1.23.2010

36. WWE: Taboo Tuesday 2004
37. Wieners
38. Armored
39. Whiteout

I wasn't sure if the wife was going to be joining me for movies today. She's spent the better part of the week recuperating in bed. So, I decided to start off with another WWE pay-per-view. Something simple enough that I don't have to really focus on while also being something that isn't terribly inappropriate for the boy. Today's event was Taboo Tuesday 2004. This was the first in what became a series of pay-per-view events in which the fans were allowed to vote on matches. It wound up being done away with after the 2008 event. At any rate, the 2004 event was really nothing special. Highlights were the opening match between Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin and the main event featuring Randy Orton battling Ric Flair in a steel cage.

From here, my wife joined me in the living room where we re-watched Sherlock Holmes since she'd fallen asleep during it the night before. After that, it was on to Wieners. It's a road trip comedy about 3 friends on a cross country trip. One is out to get revenge on Dr. Duane, a Dr. Phil knockoff who ruined his relationship. Another is out to allow the public to sample his brand of wieners out of his brand new Wienermobile. All in all, it's a pretty silly movie. I commented to my wife that we were probably 2 of 30 people who've actually seen it.

At any rate, Wieners stars Kenan Thompson, Zachary Levi and Fran Kranz. They're all pretty decent in their roles. They're supported by an odd backing cast featuring Darrell Hammond, Jenny McCarthy, Mindy Sterling, Andy Milonakis and Kyle Gass. Story is that of a typical road flick so there's nothing new there. Wieners was fairly amusing at times but is nothing to go out of your way to see.

Armored was the surprise of the night. I'd seen the trailers but didn't think much of it. I acquired a screener of it recently so I figured it was time to check it out. I'm glad I did.

Armored tells the story of 6 armored truck workers who hatch a foolproof scheme to stage a heist, robbing a truck of $42 million. This is a guy's flick, first off. There is literally one female in the entire movie. It stars manly men such as Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Fred Ward and Jean Reno. It also features an appearance by Skeet Ulrich, whom seems to have fallen right off the face of the planet. The story is typical heist material with a bit of a modern bent. The biggest reason is one of the guys is having problems with his mortgage and might get foreclosed. Doesn't get much more 2009 than that. And as with most heist flicks, something gets in the way of the ultimate goal and things don't go quite according to plan. The action scenes are few but they're well done with an armored truck chase scene being a highlight. The movie is 88 minutes that just zip right by. Sure, there are some plot holes large enough to drive one of the trucks through but for me, the suspension of disbelief was part of the fun. I recommend this one highly.


We wrapped the night up with Whiteout. This 2009 thriller stars Kate Beckinsale as a US Deputy Marshall stationed in Antarctica. She's getting ready to go back home when a dead body pops up. She discovers this to be a murder victim so it's up to her and a UN operative to try and crack the case.

This one wasn't all that special really. It was a thriller that lacked a lot of thrills. They had the opportunity to do a lot what with the setting but they just didn't pull it off. Beckinsale did fairly well with what she had to work with. Decent supporting cast with Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt and Alex O'Loughlin, also making the best out of it. Overall, this one's really just pretty average. Big disappointment for me.