UNTRACEABLE

UNTRACEABLE, UNWATCHABLE

What a waste of time. By my posting on the Internet, the movie's message would be reinforced. The Internet can be used for evil and not good and it unites us to see things we never imagined. Early on we see what the moral of this story is as our main character, tough FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) literally drives by a gory accident and we see the cars slowing to see. However, it is not merely a message driven film. Actually, it feels like there are two films mismatched and shoved together, the glue still wet and sticky. One film is a copy of the Saw series. It is violent, graphic and uncalled for. I was hoping it would only suggest the atrocities, but it doesn't. Credit that to the societal need for blood and guts.

The second film is a character piece, only there is only one character, Agent Marsh. There are other actors in the film, but Agent Marsh has more of a back-story than anyone. Think of The Silence of the Lambs in reverse. The bad guy barely has a thread of a motive for the killings and we don't really care about her domestic life. It is scary to think about how much information is accessed on the Internet. What happens to our world when the power goes off? How long could we function not being able to use the ATM, credit cards, debit cards... it is a good message, just not carried well in this movie.

NOT a pick: Disjointed stories that don't work well together. Pay cash and see a better flick.

BALLS OF FURY

BALLS OF FURY LACKS BOTH BALLS AND FURY

As Ben Garant the Director and co-writer of this film says, this is a " kung fu movie without the kung fu." Brought to you by the same people who brought you Reno 911, this is a film that mimics loads of great kung fu movies like Enter the Dragon, except it is a comedy. Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) is a has been in the ping pong world after losing his most important game and his father at the same time. Years later, he is recruited by FBI Special Agent Ernie Rodriquez (Carlos Mencia) to infiltrate the ping pong underground in efforts to bring down crime and ping pong boss, Feng (Christopher Walken). They are aided by the Master teacher of both Feng and Daytona (James Hong) and his daughter Maggie (Maggie Q- last seen in Live Free or Die Hard). They used the whole Karate Kid/Master trainer bit to pieces, adding a touch of their raunchy humor, "It is better to die like a tiger than live like a pussy." If you are a kung fu movie fan, this may be a funny film for you. I chose to see it for Christopher Walken. He called in his part and the lines they gave him were fun (his character's email address is "pradafan"). One sequence has sweethearts Dayton and Wong mimic the gun fight between Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe in The Quick and The Dead. It was also fun to see Hiro from Hero in a minor part. This film did have excellent actors, but I'm not sure they were enough to save the movie. They let Mencia out of his cage toward the end of the movie and that gave it a much needed kick, "Say hello to my little friend." There was no fury and the balls were too obvious for my delicate sense of humor. Not an outstanding movie in any way, but okay to see if you have nothing better to do and like Kung Fu.
Rating: Something to do, mildly funny, raunchy and too many obvious jokes about balls.