Review: State of Play

Going into State of Play, I was not exactly sure what I would think of it. I knew it had a great cast and one of those trailers that makes a movie look very intense, but I did not know much more than that. Basically, Russell Crowe is the old timer journalist for the Washington Post who is college pals with a Congressman (Ben Affleck). Affleck is looking to take down PointCorp, a mercenary program profiting off war when his lead researcher ends up dead and it is leaked that he had an affair with her. Now, a young blogger at the paper (Rachel McAdams) goes to Crowe to try to get answers. Crowe is reluctant on first, but the two start to unravel a story that begins to interweave with and impact personal lives. Crowe and McAdams try to break the story without breaking the law (too much) and keeping their lives.

This is one of those movies where you start watching, and then suddenly you realize youre basically sitting in the next row you're so far on the edge of your seat. The story is so well mapped out and its the perfect amount of mystery where you as a viewer can put the pieces together, but you still get a few big curveballs thrown at you. It also has one of those early twists where Crowe and McAdams are working on two stories that suddenly become the same story (or a Johnny Gossamer novel for those Kiss Kiss Bang Bang fans). The story comes together really nicely, and they are not afraid to throw in one last twist.

Not only did this movie have great performances by the main cast (Affleck, Crowe, McAdams and Helen Mirren), but it also had some very strong supporting roles. Jeff Daniels played a great congressman with his own secrets. Jason Bateman played a dopey PR guy who becomes a big piece of the puzzel. It also features Michael Weston (Kenny the cop from Garden State) as another journalist). Overall, the cast puts on a great performance. There is a line in the movie that says "those are the kind of cases you only find in movies." Once they said that I realized how real this whole movie felt, which was pretty sweet.

See if you like:
The Departed

Rating:
8/10

How Yesman Came To Be...

Producer: Ok Jim, so let's come up with an idea for your next project.

Jim Carrey: Alright, well what do you have for me?

P: Well there was some talk of a third movie in the Almighty series. Steve Carrell doesn't want it. What do you think?

J: I don't think so. This isn't the Fast and the Furious and i'm not Vin Diesel.

P: I totally get that. We could always do another Ace Ventura. How bout you have a kid and you're training him to talk to animals?

J: Not to be a dick or anything, but that sounds really awful.

P: Alright, another Eternal Sunshine. You get together with Clementine, but you both wake up one morning and remember everything that has happened.

J: I think we should steer clear of sequels. They don't really do it for me.

P: Come on Jim. You're turning down every idea I give you. What do I need to do to get a yes out of you?

J: How about something that's not a seq...

P: I GOT IT! You're a guy that is constantly turning down everything until you agree to say yes to everything. Comedy ensues.

J: So it's sort of along the lines of Liar Liar? This isn't a sequel is it?

P: No. Completely original idea. You'd just be a guy with a lousy life that completely changes when you agree to say yes to everything.

J: This sounds quite a bit like Liar Liar.

P: Trust me Jim. It'll be completely different.

J: How much money will I get for it?

P: Um, well we can't pay you anything now, but you'll get a certain amount based on how much money the movie brings in.

J: You've got to be kidding me.

P: Jim it'll be a big hit. People love you.

J: Whatever. I'll do it. I have nothing else to do.

Jinni...The Pandora of Movies

Everyone loves Pandora. It's a great music website that lets you not only listen to music for free, but find new artists that sound similar to artists you like. Now, I know everyone is thinking to themselves: Wouldn't it be great if they did that for movies? Well guess what? They do now. Jinni, a newly developed website that is still in its beta stage, is looking to do to movies what Pandora is doing for music. Not only are they looking to do the same thing, they are looking to blow Pandora's matching out of the water.

Jinni does not just want to take a movie that you like and give you similar movies (I mean Netflix does that), but you can do so much more. You can type in a mood you're in, certain genre you're looking for, a good movie for a date, and basically anything else you can think of. So say you want a romantic comedy thriller set in post World War I that was shot on location in Croatia. Well like, maybe that movie doesn't exactly exist, but if it does Jinni will find it. Say you want a sci fi indie movie set in the stone age. Seriously, if you're actually looking for that you're a moron.