Three in a row

This past weekend I did some catching up. It was sort of a mixed bag - but it was nice to get out and see a few things for a change. Need to start working up to the festival in just a month or so. Not really in the mood for a full review so just some quick thoughts.

Stop-Loss - Interesting film about a young traumatized solider deciding whether to run or return to Iraq when the Army won't let him leave at the end of his contract. Not a fun film, but overall pretty good

The Hammer - Sort of a surprisingly good film - or maybe one that benefits from extremely lowered expectations. I can find the star Adam Carolla funny in small doses, but he really does a nice job with this film. The story of a former golden gloves boxer (now a contractor) who gets a chance to recapture that dream - and maybe some of his life along the way. Not going to win an Academy award - but probably worth the rental when it comes to video.

21 - I'm not even going to put a link to IMDB for this piece of dreck. Based on much better (but still not really fantastic) books about the MIT blackjack team you may be tempted to try this movie. Smart kids who beat Vegas legally - how can you resist. Please, please, please do. The day before I saw this I watched a History Channel treatment of the same material. So much better. This movie dumbs down everything, and combines it with a boring script, iffy acting and lovers with no chemistry. Read the books - skip the film...