Venus and Vegas

Released in late 2010, Venus and Vegas stars Eddie Kaye Thomas, Donald Faison, Eddie Guerra, Jamie Pressly, and Molly Sims. The film is a crime-comedy about three criminal friends (played by Faison, Guerra, and Thomas) who happen upon what appears to be an easy score. Just outside of Vegas there is a warehouse that is producing counterfeit casino chips. The plan is to break in, steal a bunch of chips, and cash them in. Unfortunately, the heist doesn't go exactly as planned and, the warehouse is run by a Vegas mobster. While all this heist plot is going on, the film is also trying to be a relationship comedy. If done better it may have worked but I don't think this movie quite sticks the landing.

 Overall, while not what I'd call a must-see movie, I did find this movie decently  entertaining. The plot is a bit all over the place and the acting isn't great but, it isn't the worst film that I've pulled out of a bargain bin.
2 out of 5

A Look Back At 'Speed'

Released in the summer of 1994, Speed was a massive hit and is still one of the mid-90's most memorable films. I hadn't seen the movie in probably ten years but, I was surprised when rewatching it how well it still holds up.

The film stars Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, and Jeff Daniels and is about an expert bomb-maker who is trying to extort the city of L.A. for $3million. The villain named Howard Payne (played by Hopper) initially threatens to blow-up an elevator full of people if he isn't given the money, but his plan is thwarted by two SWAT officers Jack Traven and Harry Temple (played by Reeves and Daniels respectively). Sometime later, Payne strikes again; this time rigging a bomb to a bus. He contacts Jack to inform him of the bomb, make his demands (this time $3.7million), and to lay out the rules; the bus's speed cannot drop below 50mph and no passengers are allowed off of the bus until the ransom is paid. This sets up the bulk of the film and leads to the majority of the movies most memorable scenes. It's a tension-filled ride as the bus careens through the busy city of L.A. always mere moments away from catastrophe, with one of the passengers named Annie (played by Sandra Bullock) at the wheel. Of course, like any good crowd-pleaser action flick, in the end the good guys win. 

 Overall, this is a good movie. I was worried that it might not be as good as I remembered, but it was. Yes, some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy and a few scenes are pretty far-fetched, but I had fun revisiting this one. It's a simple yet solid tension-based action film, without really any dramatic reveals or hidden motives. The bad guy is bad and he wants money, the good guys are good and want to stop him.

 Straightforward and entertaining, I give Speed a 4 out of 5.

Cloud 9

I took a little vacation but now I'm back, and today's movie is another entry in my Tales from the Bargain Bin series. Cloud 9 is a 2006 sports-comedy starring Burt Reynolds, Gabrielle Reece, D.L. Hughley and Angie Everhart. In the film Reynolds plays Billy Cole, a washed up sports promoter who comes up with a get-rich-quick scheme involving women's volleyball. Cole's idea is to recruit a group of strippers to form a sexy volleyball team. While they're aren't any good at volleyball, Cole's plan is to have them make appearances at bachelor parties and such to rake in some quick cash. At first everything goes according to plan but it isn't long before the girls want to become a legitimate volleyball team and Billy starts to feel bad about exploiting the woman. So with a bit of training and hard work the team starts to turn it around. They make it to the championship and, in classic movie underdog fashion, the former strippers win it all. 

While this isn't a great movie or one of Reynolds' best, it was actually better than I expected. A decent amount of the comedy works, the characters are likeable, and at just around an hour and a half runtime it moves at a decent pace. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but, if you're a big fan of the late Burt Reynolds or if you just really like sports movies then you may find this one worth checking out.
I give this one a 2.5 out of 5.