Battle Los Angeles

(2011)

A Marine Staff Sergeant who has just had his retirement approved goes back into the line of duty in order to assist a 2nd Lieutenant and his platoon as they fight to reclaim the city of Los Angeles from alien invaders.

Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan star in this sci-fi action movie, it starts with Eckhart's character flirting with retirement from the Marines but the aliens have different plans. When the proverbial SHTF the Marines land at a forward operating base in Santa Monica they are tasked to find the civilians holding up in a police station. On the way they of course run into the alien invasion force and fight their way to the police station. During this they pick up Michelle Rodriguez's character, an Air Force TSgt. from a recon unit. They arrive at the police station and call in for medevacs and transport for the civilians, but of course it wouldn't be a movie if everything always went right. With the help of Rodriguez's character they figure out they need to take out a command ship that controls the alien's unmanned aircraft.

In conclusion, I would rate it 8/10. It is alot better than the load of crap that was Skyline. As a sidenote I'll review Skyline for you. It is a alien-zombie movie, that has a cheesy love story. Donald Faison should have lived. Anyway, Battle: LA is a sci-fi/military movie that I enjoyed. This movie is full of action scenes and I would say it doesn't disappoint.

Jarhead

(2005)

Based on former Marine Anthony Swofford's best-selling 2003 book about his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and about his experiences fighting in Kuwait.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Fox star in this movie about a platoon of Marines during Desert Shield and then later into Desert Storm. It starts with Gyllenhaal's character going through training and learns he could become a Marine Scout Sniper. The movie is set in the Kuwaiti Desert where the platoon gets to have fun waiting for the war to break out. Much of the movie is about the comradery between the Marines and sweltering heat. Once the war starts Swafford(Gyllenhaal) and his spotter Alan Troy(Peter Sarsgaard) are tasked with a classic scout sniper mission that then gets hi-jacked by higher-ups. 

Being a fan of military movies I enjoyed it but it may not be your cup of tea. It happens to be on my list of background movies that I have going while there are gaming sessions to be had. All in all it is a Gyllenhaal movie so you can take it or leave it.

Catch Me If You Can

(2002)
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.




Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks star in this movie about a teenager that commits mass amounts of bank fraud after his parents get divorced. While on the road he figures out how to successfully con banks to fund his escapade; such as posing as a pilot, doctor and a lawyer. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks do very good job at portraying the story as they run through various locales including Miami, Paris, and New York just to name a few without going into too many spoilers. In the movie there are couple cameos from Jennifer Garner, Ellen Pompeo and Elizabeth Banks. All in all I would label this movie as a good one to have as background noise for some hardcore gaming sessions or a different movie to watch with a girlfriend. Girls love Leo for some reason. Indeed it is nearly a decade old but a good story is still a good story.