Reel Insight Episode 26: Ben Foster and guest

There was lots of disagreement this week.  With Nick's obsessive love it was hard to convince him that I think Ben Foster is more like the poor man's Ryan Gosling.  But we did have some fun opinions on The Walking Dead, Rachel's love of Wham! and the finale of Dexter!  Thanks for listening.

New movies I watched with Ben Foster:

Get Over It - Luckily Nick watched this teenage romantic comedy a few weeks ago, or I might not have bothered getting in on DVD for this episode.  However, given the unbelievable list of the cast, I'm glad I did.  Check out Nick's Review of it here. 2.5 lambs/stars

Pandorum - This sci-fi flick reminded me a lot of Aliens, except that it's not funny or bad-ass and the CGI isn't good.  The bad guys look like the "Uber-vamps" from Buffy season 7.  Foster's pretty good trying to figure out what's going on on his space ship - why is he awake, where are they, what was their mission. He travels over the ship and runs into random other crew/passengers and figures out his mission.  I never figured out why there were "aliens"  but Foster ultimately triumphs, but it's not really a happy ending. 2 of 5 stars/lambs

Bang, Bang, You're Dead - Definitely the best movie of the lot, but still not good.  Foster plays a bullied kid in a high school who is now notorious for making a non-explosive bomb to scare people.  Now his school has a zero tolerance so he's trying to stay clean but that bullying doesn't stop, and even more, he carries a video camera now and manages to document a lot of the terrors of what it means to be bullied.  He makes a video for a class taught by Tom Cavenaugh (ED), but it's taken as a threat to the quarterback.  Then, some of his friends plan a "Columbine"-like attack on the school, but he is able to figure out ahead of time that this isn't the answer and people don't get hurt.  Very uneven, with lots of not good acting, but ultimately a very raw look at high school that has a very big grain of truth (whether or not you were ever bullied it's the most recognizable portrayal of high school I've seen in a while).  3.5 of 5 stars/lambs

Alpha Dog - Emile Hirsh is TERRIBLE in this movie.  Justin Timberlake is funny and is still learning to act, but you can see a grain of truth.  Foster is WAY over the top.  Anton Yelchin is the best thing about the movie - particularly his interactions with Timberlake.  The whole premise is completely ridiculous (though it seems to be based on a real story since they explain where all the bad guys ended up) - kids who still live with or depend upon their parents are such high level drug dealers that they can use guns and get girls.  However, when Hirsh  kidnaps Yelchin (Foster's younger brother), real consequences follow them - like police and prison.  There's a terrible scene with a very bad Sharon Stone in a fat suit.  Yuck.  1.5 of 5 stars - the half is for Yelchin and Timberlake.