Nacho Libre Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Jack Black as Ignacio/Nacho
Ana de la Reguera as Encarnacion
Hector Jimenez as Steven/Esqueleto

Plot: A monk, Jack Black, decides to follow his dream of becoming a luchador(wrestler) even against his religion.

Review: I gotta say, Jack Black has a lot of different, crazy roles. Although he's viewed as just this crazy, out of his mind guy, Nacho is probably his most sane character yet. His character just wants to follow his dreams while helping others along the way. You have to admit, that's probably the most realistic role he's played.

Not only is it a realistic role, but Black is a pretty funny hispanic man. He's got the accent and all the mannerisms down, the dialogue is pretty hilarious. I think he played being a hispanic monk better than any spanish actor could and that's saying something.

His partner in crime, Esqueleto played by Hector Jimenez, is equally hilarious and makes this movie even better. Black being hilarious on his own would have made this a ok/good comedy but it would just be like all his other past movies before Nacho Libre. With Jimenez' character being a trustworthy but still hesitant sidekick, it makes this movie  a great comedy.

I found myself remembering more funny parts in this movie than most other comedies in the past. Maybe because I am hispanic and I can "relate" to this in a sense. Nonetheless, behind Anchorman, maybe even ahead of Anchorman, this is one hell of a quotable movie.

Some may find the comedy to not be funny at all, possibly because they are not hispanic and don't really understand any of it. Just look at it as Jack Black being goofy again.

Overall, this is a great comedy, worth watching alone or with a group of people, however you enjoy your movies. Nonetheless, you'll enjoy this one entirely.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Vince Vaughn as Peter La Fleur
Ben Stiller as White Goodman
Christine Taylor as Kate Veatch
Rip Torn as Patches O'Houlihan

Plot: In order to save his gym, Peter must form a dodgeball team and win first place.

Review: Ahhh dodgeball. All the memories from high school of throwing around a rubber ball, trying to knock somebody out. Good times.

The 2004 movie Dodgeball definitely brought back that nostalgia and comedy along the way.

The story revolves around Peter and finding a way to save his dead beat gym. He is talked into joining a dodgeball tournament with a team to try and win $50,000 to save his gym.

Vince Vaughn is a pretty funny guy and this was one of his first actual funny roles. Vaughn is over looked in comedy sometimes due to some of the hard hitters in this genre like Steve Carell, Zach Galifinakis, Seth Rogen and many others.

Throw in Ben Stiller, who unfortunately looks to be getting less relevant and funny now. Luckily, he does have some funny scenes in here and his decline doesn't really start here. His role as White Goodman, rival gym owner to Peter, gives us some quotable moments like "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood."

Also, Stiller's beautiful wife Christine Taylor is in the movie and has her moments. You can't go wrong with her in the movie.

The dodgeball is actually funny to watch too, which adds to the movie. If the dodgeball sucked but the comedy was still ok, than the movie would have just been ok, or less. But because dodgeball was actually both good and funny to watch, the movie gets a huge bump in rating.

Overall, dodgeball is no 40 year old virgin and won't leaving you laughing for most of the time. The comedy is still there, still quotable and serviceable enough that is worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

DVD Releases November 2nd

By: Robert Acosta

November has always been a good month for DVDs and movies in general. The holiday season is starting, if it hasn't already, so good DVDs will be in stock from now on.

Let's take a look at this weeks DVD releases:
NOTE: Bold means DVD is also available in Blu-ray

• Toy Story 3
• Toy Story Trilogy
• Centurion
• The Goonies
• The Pacific 
• V (Season 1)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• The Wiz(Blu-Ray only)
• Nip/Tuck(Full Series)
• Beverly Hills 90210(The Final Season)
• Beverly Hills 90201(Full Series)

My picks for this week are probably going to be obvious choices but why not?

Toy Story was one of the better animated movies of the year and definitely one of the most anticipated movies of the year and it delivered. If you pick up the DVD, Blu-ray combo, you get 4 discs that include three studio stories, and a bonus feature look at the cast of Toy Story 3 all for about $25. Good deal.

Of course if you have none of the Toy Story movies, now would be a good time to pick up the Toy Story trilogy set. You get all 3 movies, 10 discs, for around $65. You definitely get your moneys worth with tons of bonus features, previews, studio stories and more.

For you TV lovers, the Nip Tuck series is on DVD in full. The box set is a bit pricy at around $135 dollars but you get a lot. All 6 seasons on 35 discs(!), all 100 episodes. Think about it, 100 episodes for 135 dollars, that's $1.35 per episode. That's much better than iTunes or any other distributor.

Next week will bring lots of good DVDs that you'll want to pick up for you or as gifts for others so check back to The Movie Spot!

Anchorman Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
Christian Applegate as Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana
Steve Carell as Brick Tamland

Plot: Ron Burgundy is the best newscaster of his time when a woman, Veronica Corningstone, becomes his partner and questions his top spot.

Review: Anchorman is one of most quotable comedies of all time. All of them are just ridiculously hilarious quotes. From "60 percent of the time it works all the time." to "The bears can smell the menstruation" and of course the classic "You stay classy San Diego."

I don't know if Will Ferrell is going to have a role define him more than his Ron Burgundy character. Maybe his George W. Bush impersonation will be mentioned but when you hear Will Ferrell's name, you're gonna hear Ron Burgundy right after it. He really does own the role, become the role and it's great to watch. The movie isn't half as funny without him as Burgundy.

The supporting cast is great and tremendously hilarious. Throw in Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, David Koechner and small cameos from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and you have a great array of funny scenes.

The chemistry between the 4 male newscasters(Ferrell, Rudd, Carell and Koechner) is phenomenal. Another strong part of the comedy and without it, the movie becomes extremely unsuccessful. They all bounce off each other really well. Burgundy is the man, the king of the world. Brian Fantana, played by the awesome Paul Rudd, is like this wing man in all of it. Brick Tamland, played by Steve Carell, plays the retard who blurts out random stuff at great times. Finally, Champ Kind, played by David Koechner, is the veteran sports newscaster and is Burgundy's left hand man.

Probably the funniest scene, or close to it because it's hard to pick the funniest one, is the huge newscasting fight where all the channels news teams create a huge fight. Mayhem ensues, people lose limbs, someone gets a trident, it's fantastic!

Does the movie lose it's rating because of all the great comedies that have come along since Anchorman? It's hard to say. Anchorman is still hilarious without comparing it to anything and is worth watching again and again.

Rating: 4 out of 5

40 Year Old Virgin Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Steve Carell as Andy
Catherine Keener as Trish
Paul Rudd as David
Seth Rogen as Cal

Plot: When he tells his co-workers that he is still a virgin, Andy, and his friends, look to change that.

Review: This is the movie that started it all. Or so I think it started it all. All those hilarious comedies made by producer/writer/director Judd Apatow that stars guys like Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, Jonah Hill and many more.

In the movie we have Andy, now 40, struggling with his love life. He's a virgin and every time he has tried to change that, something bad always happens. Something bad always hilariously happens I should say. He tells his co-workers that he is a virgin and that's where everything goes down hill for Andy and up hill for the audience.

Some of the best comedic moments in the last decade or two have happened in The 40 Year Old Virgin. The waxing of the chest scene, Andy reliving his sexual moments, Andy simply going to work. All of it was just down right hilarious.

It's not just Carell who was hilarious though. Paul Rudd is funny with his witty remarks, Seth Rogen with his unhelpful advice and Romany Malco as Jay always leads Carells character into sticky situations. It's a good blend of comedy that isn't coming from just Carell.

This movie definitely helped catapult some of these actors careers. Sure, The Office was great for Steve Carell but this movie pushed him into stardom. Paul Rudd was doing movie for years before this, more than a decade but his push came from this movie. Seth Rogen may have benefited the most from this movie cause he's gotten lead roles in many movies after this one.

If you're looking for a good time, a good comedy and an overall memorable, hilarious movie then look no further than 40 Year Old Virgin.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Spot News: Batman news galore!

By: Robert Acosta

Don't you just love any news about the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises? I sure do!

So as reports have it, specially from ComicBookmovie.com, certain ladies have been auditioned for roles in The Dark Knight Rises.

Charlize Theron is said to have been auditioned for the role of Sarah Essen. For all you non comic bookers,  Ms.Essen ends up being a love interest of Comissioner Gordon. Another role being auditioned, and this may be more indicative of a possible villain coming in, is Julie Madison. Both Kacie Thomas and Vera Farmiga have auditioned for the role.

Why is this Julie Madison character important? Well from what i've read up on, her main story in the comics has the villain Clayface attached to it.

Does this mean that Clayface will be in? Who knows. Christopher Nolan loves to play around with things and he has honestly done a great job in the past of taking 2nd or 3rd rate villains and making them great and actually powerful.

Let's hope for another scenario like that.

Source: ComicBookmovie.com

Here is November/Oh man, look at the picture!

October came and went and in terms of movies, it wasn't that bad. October can end up being one of the worst months of movies but 2010's October was actually kinda strong.

With movies like Jackass 3D, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D and The Social Network, October went pretty well. 

Will November take over where October left off? Let's take a look at the November theater releases:

NOTE: (x)=Limited Release

November 5th

• Due Date
• Megamind 3D
• 127 Hours
• Fair Game
• For Colored Girls
• Four Lions(x)

November 12th

• Unstoppable
• Skyline
• Morning Glory
• Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer(x)

November 19th

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• The Next Three Days
• Made in Dagenham(x)

November 26th

• Tangled
• Burlesque(11/24)
• Faster(11/24)
• Love and Other Drugs(11/24)
• The King's Speech(x)

Robert Acosta:

For me, November has always been a strong month of movies. There's always a couple of great, strong movies and this year is no different.

You start the month off strong with what possibly, could be the best comedy of the year in Due Date. You throw together two down right hilarious people in Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifinakis and you're gonna have a hilarious movie. Megamind is going to be the secondary choice of that week but still looks like a good watch. Though Will Ferrell is probably better in non animated movies, he is an actor and has to portray many different roles.

We move on to the 12th where we have some movies with decent backing. Unstoppable(already reviewed on The Movie Spot, check the history bar to the right, in the November tab.) looks like an intense ride. Skyline looks like both an intense and creepy movie that Sci-fi lovers are going to enjoy. Morning Glory looks a bit interesting and could be one of those "sleeper" picks to actually be entertaining.

The 19th is a huge weekend! The last installment, at least the first part of it anyway, of the Harry Potter series is here! I can't say enough good things about this movie. It's going to be intense, dark, tremendous and I cannot wait. On top of that, The Next Three Days, bless its soul for competing with Harry Potter, looks intriguing. It's a mystery action film that looks like will deliver in each of those categories.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving week/weekend is going to suck...for the theaters! I personally will be knee deep in Thanksgiving heaven so my trip to the theater will be limited, if i'm there at all!

Jose Diaz:

November. The second month of the holiday season. Shopping and abundance of food. Preparing gifts and feasting on turkey. And with that said here come the holiday movies.

November 5th sees the release of Megamind and Due Date. Now Due Date looks like it will be a fun and entertaining movie while for some odd reason, to me at least, I am not feeling Megamind. Maybe after seeing it I will like it but so far, meh. Oh and 127 Hours with James Franco limited release. Which looks good…oh and the movie looks good too. HAHA

November 12th has a good looking sci-fi, alien invasion, movie in Skyline. Plus the release of a movie that I already saw in a screening and we should have a review up today if not soon. Unstoppable starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Now the review will pretty much sum up what I think of the movie but it is still an enjoyable movie.

November 19th is the best movie date of this month hands down. The first part of the last Harry Potter movie is set loose on the world and all with be well. What there is another movie being released this day? Really? Wow they are stupid. So it seems that The Next Three Days will attempt to be recognized on this day, the day of Potter.

November 24th has a rather large list of movies. We start out with Love and Other Drugs starring two hot young actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. The Nutcraker in 3D which sounds painful. Tangled a Disney movie about Rapunzel. I think this is the first time Disney has actually made a movie about her and her story. Adding another “princess” to there line up. Looks like it will be fun. Then Burlesque starring the man voiced Christina Aguilera and the walking anomaly Cher. Also released Red Dawn remake, Faster which sounds like a porn, and pretty much that’s it. But regardless Harry Potter will continue to kill at the box office until Tron is released next month.

So there you have it a stuffed movie list to go with the stuffed feeling you will have all this month.

Accepted Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Justin Long as Bartleby Gaines
Blake Lively as Monica Moreland
Jonah Hill as Sherman Schrader
Lewis Black as Ben Lewis

Plot: When a young man has been rejected by every college he's applied to, he creates a college of his own and so ensues the comedy and struggle.

Review: The movie Accepted features a lot of up and coming talent, at least when the movie came out in 2006. Justin Long has star potential and is a pretty funny guy, Blake Lively is just beautiful and can act and Jonah Hill seemed to be the funnier of the group with the brightest comedic future.

Four years later, things haven't turned out like that but of no fault of this movie.

The movie follows Justin Long as Bartleby Gaines as he invents this new college because he didn't get into college. It's kind of a heart warming story for lack of a better term, though highly unrealistic. It is a movie.

In terms of the comedy, it is there but it isn't too funny. Justin Long definitely has his moments where he'll get you to laugh out loud, cause a little chuckle but nothing too memorable. In fact, Jonah Hill as Sherman really provides the better laughs in this movie. Between him wearing a hot dog costume asking you to ask him about his wiener to his high pitched screaming, he ends up being the funnier guy in this film.

The story isn't bad, it really gives the premise for the movie to be funny. It's a little cliche in the sense that both the romantic part of the story and the dramatic part of the story are a little dry. You'll be pleased with the story but won't be horribly satisfied with it.

Overall, Accepted isn't a bad movie or a bad comedy movie. Is it the best comedy to watch? No. It's more along the lines of light comedy or soft comedy but still worthy of a watch.

Rating: 3 out of 5

New York Comedy Festival Week

By: Robert Acosta

Being as both of the writers here at The Movie Spot are from New York, it's only right to mention stuff that goes on here. This week is the New York Comedy Festival which is going to feature stand up comedy shows from the likes of Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias, Louis CK and many others.

With that said, in commemoration of the week of comedy that will ensue, we'll be posting up some of the better comedy movies in recent years.

The Hangover, Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Nacho Libre, Dodgeball, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Shaun of the Dead, Accepted and I Love You, Man will all be reviewed this week.

Comedy is all year round, so why not know what to watch when you're looking to laugh? Check back here at The Movie Spot for all those reviews.

Unstoppable Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Denzel Washington as Frank Barnes

Chris Pine as Will Colson

Rosario Dawson as Connie Hopper

Plot: Lives are at stake when two train conductors must come together to try and stop a train that is going full speed into dangerous territory with no driver.

I may get in trouble for this but, this is my job and I shouldn’t be told how to do it. I signed a non disclosure saying I wouldn’t talk about this movie before it comes out but I think things like this can only enhance the movie.

Unstoppable follows Denzel Washington and Chris pines’ characters as they venture on the jobs of train drivers/conductors. It seems like a nice, easy going type of job but it takes a turn for the worse when I train, no driver, goes on a rampage trying to take down everything it can.

That premise sounds good doesn’t it? If only we had known what the movie was about in the trailers. Problem # 1. The trailer leads you to believe that this free running train is heading for a train filled with kids and Denzel and Pine have to try and stop it. No. It ends up being the premise I brought up in paragraph # 2. Something that could have been brought up to me in the beginning.

Problem # 2. I thought this free running train was caused by maybe someone with bad intent, a terrorist, something bad. No. It ends up being a human error case and boy does this guy mess up. That struck me as just dumbfounded for lack of a better word.

Problem # 3. This town that the story takes place in has some horrible town planners. As the train is speeding through the towns they talk about everything near the tracks, everything in danger. So near the track just so happens to be a elementary school and a power plant. Who puts two important things like that near a damn railroad track?! The school is a pretty bad idea to have near the train tracks but the real problem is the power plant, which the train is headed straight for and would cause a huge problem.

Finally, to end the negativity, the characters aren’t fully explored and developed. Chris Pines’ character looks like he has problems galore but they aren’t explained all that well. We could have gone deeper into his character and why he does what he does. Same goes for Denzels’ character. You saw the cusp of his problems but you don’t see the real emotion behind it all.

On the bright side, the movie does have its audience in suspense for a bit. I would say the last 45 minutes definitely has its suspenseful moments. It’s obviously where all the action takes place and where everything is coming to its conclusion. On the other hand, the first 45 minutes or more ends up being pretty slow, even if it were meant to be that way.

One other plus would have to be the chemistry between Pine and Denzel. It definitely feels like they worked on having a good connection and it showed.

Overall, Unstoppable needs some polishing that it will not get. It seemed way too rushed, awaiting to really get to the action and throwing aside the story. Wait for this on DVD or for it to appear on a television channel.

Rating: 2 out of 5