Synopsis: Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a retired CIA agent desperately trying to spend more time with his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), after being away from her life for so long. Divorced from his wife, Bryan is finally starting to reconnect with his daughter when Kim decides to visit Europe with a friend. Bryan soon discovers that rather than visiting museums and exploring Paris, Kim will be following the U2 tour across Europe. Having traveled the world, Bryan warns against the dangers of Europe, but concedes and lets Kim take the trip with a few stipulations: she must call him every night to let him know that she is safe.

Kim neglects to call Bryan after landing in Paris and Bryan quickly becomes worried. Bryan calls Kim to find out that her friend Amanda lied about staying with cousins in Paris and that Kim and Amanda will be staying in the apartment alone. While on the phone with Bryan, things quickly deteriorate when Kim spots kidnappers abducting her friend Amanda and Bryan knows she is next. While still on the phone, the kidnappers soon discover Kim hiding and take her. One of the kidnappers picks up the phone and Bryan gives him a choice: hand over Kim or be killed.

My Take: I enjoyed this movie and liken it to a Jason Borne film, but with a more straightforward plot. Unpredictable with plenty of twists, you’ll be entertained throughout the 94 minutes of this film. There’s plenty of action, however; it is well balanced with the film’s plot.

Liam Neeson is pretty bad-ass in this movie. His calm demeanor and smooth diction is perfect for the role. There isn’t a a whole lot of “acting” to be seen, but what’s there is very well done. There’s plenty of action and the fight scenes are relatively believable. I liked the plot – while I won’t say it’s original, it’s very well thought out and refreshing compared to so many of the other ‘abduction’ movies.

My Beefs:

I don’t have many with this movie, but one thing I did notice were the car chases. There were too many of them, and they seemed sort of unnecessary. Also, I think the key to a great film is the soundtrack. Movies like Jurassic Park, the Bourne Identity, Ocean’s 11, they all have fantastic soundtracks. This movie doesn’t necessarily compare to them, but the soundtrack is merely mediocre – the movie needed that little bit extra to be very good and I think it was missing that in the music department.

Kuhnometer: 8 / 11

Trailer:

Synopsis: Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), a devout American Muslim, and a former U.S. Army Special Forces expert in explosives, has been mysteriously showing up on the FBI’s radar for being in the area of terrorist bombings. FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up a task force investigation to link Horn to these bombings. Clayton is able to question Horn after he was arrested in Yemen for attempting to sell explosives to an Islamic terrorist group. The terrorists break out of prison and take Horn with them. With the help of Max Archer (Neal McDonough), Clayton is able to link Horn to a bombing of an American Consulate in Nice, and a failed police raid to capture his top terrorist contact in London. Clayton has been pursuing Horn around the world and has tracked him to the United States. Clayton must capture Horn before he strikes his next target.

My Take: This movie builds suspense slowly but steadily. While the workings of the plot weren’t exactly clear in the beginning of the film, things click together about halfway through and this is where the suspense really starts to kick in. The unpredictability of the course of the film is a refreshing alternative to most of today’s drama/thriller movies.

The acting is great for the most part; Don Cheadle is clearly the star of the film and it is rightly deserved. It seems that Cheadle has made a goal of starring in films based in Africa and the middle east, but he does extremely well with these parts and is very believable.

Overall, it’s a great movie and will keep you interested for the full 114 minutes.

My Beefs: The beginning of the movie was a bit slow. After watching it, I think it should have started with an explosion of some sort. Not a giant Hollywood fireball explosion, but a real explosion as a result of a terrorist attack.

The ending, while not abrupt, leaves a few questions to be answered. Maybe the writers left the ending this way deliberately – some may like the vagueness while others may be left wondering what’s next.

Kuhnometer: 8.0 / 11

Trailer:

There’s not much more to say besides what is in the description above. I thought the film was pretty good, but I was a bit disappointed in the participants. It seems that they were awfully unprepared (both physically and mentally) and quite whiny. Their self-centered attitudes somewhat detracted from the spirit of the mission throughout the film. Nevertheless, it all comes together in the end and their mission is a great success. Seeing the 4×4 vehicles delivered among countless wide-eyed children will put a smile on your face.

If you like the DVD, please consider purchasing it – many of the proceeds are donated to anti-slavery organizations. Alternatively you can check out the Hull Freedom Trail website for other gifts and contribution opportunities:

Synopsis: Fred Claus has lived his entire life in his brother’s very large shadow. Fred tried, but could hardly live up to the example set by the younger Nicholas, who was just a perfect, well, saint. True to form, Nicholas (a.k.a Santa Claus) grew up to be the model of giving, while Fred became the polar opposite: a fast-talking repo man who’s run out of luck and money. Eventually Fred’s bad behavior catches up with him and he is sent to jail. His only recourse is to turn to his brother. Over Mrs. Claus’ objections, Nicholas agrees to help his brother on one condition: that he come to the North Pole and earn the money he needs by working in Santa’s Toy Shop. The trouble is that Fred isn’t exactly elf material and cut out for creating toys and spreading good cheer. With Christmas fast approaching, Fred could jeopardize the jolliest holiday of the year and ruin Christmas.

My Take: The last thing I want to see right now is another sappy Christmas movie. This isn’t one of ‘em. Normally, I wouldn’t post a movie like this, but it is Christmas time and I found this one enjoyable. Think Tim Allen in the Santa Clause, but give it some Vince Vaughn flair and wittiness, and you’ll wind up with Fred Clause. The cast is perfect for the story line, and you’ll see some familiar faces.

Like I said, this movie certainly isn’t sappy. Vaughn’s fast talking wit drives the movie through it’s 116 minute course quite well. It’s full of comedy and some decent elf-human action scenes. Other than that, there’s not much else to say – it’s a Christmas movie, it’s just what you’ll expect.

My Beefs: As with any Christmas movie, it’s a bit predictable. I found the ending leaves a few unanswered questions as well.

Kuhnometer:

7.5 / 11

Trailer

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