Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus 042710

In the back streets of London, Dr Parnassus (a very very old man), his daughter, a young man, and a midget drive around with their traveling show. On the surface, it appears that Dr. Parnassus is merely a crazy old man but by participating in his show, you gain access to a magical world that will change your life(white chocolate mocha). The problem is two-fold. One, no one is this modern age will participate. Two, Parnassus made a deal with the devil several years ago and on her sixteenth birthday, he loses his daughter. But, a mysterious stranger (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all playing the same person) shows up and turns things around.

This movie has a great behind the scenes story. When Ledger died, he had not updated his will in several years, meaning that his three year old daughter received none of his money. At the time of his death he was in the middle of filming this movie. Director Terry Gilliam still wanted to finish the film. Depp, Farrell, and Law all not only agreed to help finish with the film but also wanted everything that they would be paid to be given to Ledger’s daughter. And surprisingly, three actors playing the same character works. Anyway, this movie is trippy. In a good way. It’s a modern day fantasy without trying to rewrite old fairy tales, which we’ve seen far too much of these days. Instead, the story is very original, unless it’s based on a book I don’t know about, and isn’t totally full of itself. The performances are all very strong, particularly newcomer Lily Cole as the daughter but my opinion might be tainted because she’s beautiful. The other actors are great too though. A big highlight though is the magical world of the imaginarium. It looks like a world based on Gilliam’s drawings back when he was still with Monty Python. It sounds too weird, but it’s actually quite lovely. And whimsical at the same time.

The movie is definitely not for everyone. It’s really trippy and the ending is a little disjointed, abrupt, and too open ended. At times the fantasy world gets to strange, leaving you to think, “hold on, what just happened?” One scene does leave you feeling a little disturbed but it was Colin Farrell so it’s okay. There’s also a couple of questions about the Ledger/Depp/Law/Farrell character that are never answered. Such as why doesn’t his imagination affect the Imaginarium? You’ll understand that if you see it.

This is a great late night movie but as trippy as it is, I don’t see it becoming a stoner movie. I do think it has the potential to develop a small cult following. B.

Avatar 042210

A group of English settlers land in Virginia, some to make a new home, others to look for gold. The most adventurous of them, John Smith goes exploring one day and is captured by Indians. He’s sentenced to be killed for being a white demon. But just before the execution the princess asks that he be spared and made her servant because, she has a crush on him. She keeps him for a month before returning him to the settlement. That winter because so many spent all of their time searching for gold the settlement has no food and out of kindness, the natives bring them food.

That was the story of Pocahontas and to all of those that claim this is the same story I ask, “Which story did you learn?” The main reason is the obvious Indian parallel in this movie and people think “Indian love story... yeah Pocahontas.” The real similar story in this instance is Last Samurai, which you should see. Heck, Romeo and Juliet is way closer than Pocahontas.

Now that that’s off my chest, here’s Avatar’s plot. If you’ve seen Last Samurai, you can skip this part. A future earth company has set up a mining colony on a newly discovered planet, Pandora, searching for a mineral that’s very rare on earth but in abundance there. The biggest problem is that there’s a group of humanoids, the Na’Vi, living there. Not only that, but their village is sitting on the largest mineral deposit on the planet and they don’t want to leave. To this end the company has developed a method of growing avatars that resemble the natives, that they can control by mixing in human dna when constructing it. One of their avatar drivers dies in an accident and in an attempt to not waste the incredible amount of money spent on the avatar they hire his marine twin brother to take his place because they share the same dna. He’s sent on a diplomatic mission to gain the native’s trust and after getting to know them and their ways, begins to think he may be on the wrong side.

I was excited about this movie for three years. I love James Cameron. I’ve seen all but two of his movies, Titanic and Piranha 2. Titanic for a lame, personal reason and Piranha 2 because it’s considered one of the worst movies ever made. But he has a standard of excellence in all of his movies except Piranha 2 and it’s his first one in twelve years. One thing that’s fun about this movie is that it makes earthlings the invaders on an alien planet. We’re used to it being the other way around and I’m not saying it’s refreshing, it’s just worth noting. The plot is simple, the dialogue frequently uninteresting but the acting is up to the usual standard expected from a James Cameron movie. Now let’s get to the real reason that people are flocking to this movie: the visual effects are amazing. Absolutely amazing. Were it not for the fact that so much is outside the realm of physical possibility, you would not be able to tell what’s real and what isn’t. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking.

The negative. Apart from the amazing visuals this movie really has nothing strongly going for it. It’s a movie based solely on spectacle. It’s trying to make a statement that’s so blunt that you can feel it smacking you upside the head. The story is too well known. We’ve seen it a so many times and this brings nothing new other than large blue people.

This movie is a joy to watch and if you can find it in a dollar theater or something, go see it because it can only be truly appreciated on a large screen. I’m sure it’ll be fun on the smaller screen but not as much. If you get a new blu ray player and a huge TV and you want to test it, get this movie. B+ for quality but I don’t plan to buy it.

The Lovely Bones 042010

A young girl in the 70’s is murdered by her pedophilic serial killer neighbor. The movie follows as she is stuck in limbo and attempts to move on to the other side and her family attempts to move on from her death.

This is Peter Jackson’s first movie since King Kong (which I will admit was too long and could’ve done without the ice skating scene but I did like it) and it’s not what you’d expect. It’s more like his pre Lord of the Rings movies which were standarder dramas with some very clever visuals. The movie is a very taught story and keeps you on the edge of your seat for pretty much the whole movie. The afterlife scenes are amazing and while secular in worldview it actually makes heaven look really fun with just enough strange thrown in. Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg give their usual excellent performances (except for Wahlberg’s dual strike-out with The Happening and Max Payne but we’ll forget about that) as the parents but the real stars in this one though are Stanley Tucci as the psychopath and Saoirse (pronounced sur-shuh but it’s Gaelic) Ronan as the lead girl. Tucci is one of those that everyone’s seen in something but no one knows who he is. Look him up if you doubt me. He’s just a little bit pitiable, a lot mousy, and all kinds of creepy in a subtle way that makes it extra freaky. Imagine Alan Rickman crossed with Rick Moranis. Sounds strange but it’s close to the right image. Ronan is another on my list of young actors to keep an eye on. If you don’t believe me watch Death Defying Acts. It has Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones and she stole the movie. She is a brilliant actress and only fifteen. She’s also going to be really attractive. I can’t comment on her current attractive level because she’s a minor.

The negative. Two words: the ending. It’s totally strange. You like it but it’s totally not satisfying. At all. And with all the amazing visuals at the very end there’s one that’s so fake looking it reminds you of the 80’s.

A-. It’s a great movie that strangely enough for a drama is a joy to look at it and unlike Avatar, it’s got depth behind the spectacle.

The Young Victoria 042010

Before Queen Victoria became one of the, if not the, most beloved monarchs in Britain’s history (her biggest competitor being Queen Elizabeth) she was a young woman. Her father was the brother of the king of England and the king of Belgium. Neither of them had a child so she was the next in line for the throne. Because of this, her mother’s advisor is constantly trying to gain control over her, and her Belgian uncle is trying to arrange her marriage with Albert, a young man that he’s been training since he was a boy to marry Victoria and twist her will toward Belgium’s interests. When he meets her though, he immediately falls head over heels for her and rebels against the King’s intentions.

This is a love story, but I’ll admit I liked it. Emily Blunt does an excellent job of playing Victoria as simultaneously regal and unsure of herself. This is also a frequently untold portion of Victoria’s life. History class doesn’t touch on the failures of her early years and instead just goes straight to why she’s remembered, which is the point of history class but it makes it seem less real. And less interesting. The real star of this movie though is the guy who played Prince Albert. I’ve been told he was in Pride and Prejudice but I didn’t know that. I don’t know how accurate the story about Albert and Victoria is but the things that Albert put up with and did for Victoria because he loved her is incredibly admirable. Guys who watch this will respect him and most girls will fall in love with him. Really great guy.

The negative. It moves really, slow. This is expected; historical drama and a romance not a whole lot of time for pacing. There’s some disjointed aspects of the plot but again, expected; real story.

I really don’t have a whole lot to say for the bad it’s few and far between. The negative is really just the simple fact that it’s not for everyone. Some will think it’s boring others will find it dumb, and others won’t be able to admit that they liked it. I did. For a date movie, this is a good choice, girls will really like it and guys won’t mind it too much or maybe even like it. B.

Defendor 041310

Woody Harrelson is a masked vigilante who calls himself Defendor, yes it is misspelled but he’s insistent about the pronunciation. He’s a little slow but he’s determined to bring the city’s crime lord, Captain Industry, to justice.

The movie is a great concept that to my knowledge has not been before. I’m not aware of another incident where there’s been an almost retarded “super-hero”. If you don’t count the Hulk. What you have is man with no powers but has a true sense of right and wrong and he’s determined to do what’s right. He ends up stumbling across a deeply rooted conspiracy but he doesn’t quite understand what it is that he’s found. Woody Harrelson does a great job of playing Arthur/Defendor. He’s lovable and doesn’t make fun of the slow population a la Adam Sandler. Instead you admire him. And it makes the point of justice sharper by saying if this man can do this why can’t we?

This is another comedy that left me thinking, “why?” (again, do nooooooot see Taking Woodstock). I chuckled once. And it’s not that the jokes weren’t funny or I didn’t get them, it’s that they weren’t there. It was just not funny with the exception of Woody saying you shouldn’t do drugs. Another negative was Kat Dennings. I don’t like her and I can’t figure out why. But she played her character, one that should have been sympathetic and likeable in a way that made you really dislike her.

This movie is actually very good. It’s not a comedy but if you go in expecting a drama, you’ll really like it but it’s not a multiple viewing movie. B-/C+.

Pirate Radio 041310

In the mid-60’s it was illegal for radio stations in Britain to play rock and roll. In an act of civil disobedience, several DJ’s put radio transmission equipment on tanker ships and broadcast from off the coast. Pirate Radio follows the daily life of the most popular ship after a new boy, Carl, arrives on the ship as well as the government’s attempts to shut them down.

I liked this movie, if for no other reason than the soundtrack is amazing. The cast is also a Brit-com dream: Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords), Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead), Chris O’Dowd (IT Crowd), and Katherine Parkinson (IT Crowd). Beyond that it also has Emma Thompson (a lot of stuff), Kenneth Branaugh (a lot of stuff), Bill Nighy (Underworld, Pirates of the Caribbean 2&3), Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (a lot of stuff). The scenes in the ship are random but they’re a lot of fun to watch. This little known part of rock history is also just fascinating to learn about, however inaccurate the film may be. It’s also really funny.

The biggest complaints that I have with this movie are three-fold. First, you had the government working hard to come up with ways to shut down the stations but back on the ship, nothing ever comes of it. There is the whole based on a true story thing but they could’ve played it up a little bit. The second, this is an unnecessarily R rated movie. The drugs are never shown but implied. The sex is never shown but implied and the one scene of nudity, completely unnecessary. So the language is not needed. This could’ve easily been a PG-13 movie but they went for the R. This doesn’t bother me too much but from a marketing perspective... yeah. There was one scene that without the language would not have been nearly as funny. Third, how in the world did Jack Black not get on board this movie?

Great characters, fun cast, good script and fun setting. If you like Rock, watch this movie. B+. You’ll want to see it at least twice.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakuel 033010

The Chipmunks are on top of the world. Sell-out shows everywhere and they have a family as established in the first movie. Everything is great until Alvin’s antics cause an on stage accident that lands Dave in a Parisian hospital. He tells the chipmunks that he’s arranged for them to live with their aunt and he also wants them to go to school. They get to the airport and their aunt is promptly landed in the hospital (not Alvin’s fault this time) leaving them in the care of their loser cousin Toby. Once the chipmunks start school the football team declares war on them for stealing their limelight as the entire female student body is in love with them (yes, it is weird). They’re then asked to perform for a school to school music contest to win enough money to keep their school’s music program while Alvin’s popularity guzzling steadily makes him impossible to work with, all of this while their former manager is trying to destroy them with a rival singing group, the Chippettes.

This one was better than the first movie , that I will definitely concede. The story was better and most of the jokes were actually funny. The character of Toby (TV’s Chuck) was also more fun to watch than Dave because he was trying, he just didn’t know what he was doing. David Cross as the evil manager really shines, being both pitiably goofy but simultaneously a contemptuous jerk but his character was less vile than in the first movie. The addition of the Chippettes is the real highlight of the movie though, as evidenced by the ad campaign.

This is, obviously, a kid’s movie. As complicated as that plot summary was, it took a mere fifteen minutes of screen time. The entire thing is very fast paced and quick, leaving you feeling cheated likeI mentioned last week with Fantastic Mr Fox. Another thing is that while Toby is fun to watch, his character never really grows, he takes a step forward but at the end (spoiler alert) he’s still a loser. It was also a bit disappointing to not have anything new this time around. This is a fairly constant plot with the chipmunks. Brittany was also nicer than usual.

Typical chipmunk fair. Kids will love it and parents will be filled with nostalgia and like parts of it. Quality wise though, C-.

Sherlock Holmes 033010

Sherlock Holmes has had Lord Blackwood arrested following a cult ceremony and he is supplementally hung. A few days later, Blackwood rises from the grave starting a cat and mouse game between the two as Holmes tries to stop his plot to take over the British Empire. All this while dealing with the impending marriage of his good friend Watson and the arrival of the one who literally and figuratively got away.

When this movie was forthcoming, for those who regularly research movies, a big deal was made of this movie’s homoeroticism and how hints about the extremeness of Watson and Holmes relationship would be played out. The actors, Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr, even talked about these things quite frequently. This is mentioned in the positive paragraph because all of those claims are total bull. I was looking and couldn’t find anything. The only possible place where you could find this would be in Holmes attempts to talk Watson out of getting married but it’s really done out of fear of losing his only good friend. Now, onto other things. This is filmed like a detective show but with a Holmes twist. Like shows like Psych and Monk you are shown every clue and given every hint about every aspect of the mystery, but unlike those shows they aren’t pointed out to you. If you really pay attention, like Holmes, and if you know what everything is, like Holmes, you can in fact figure the whole thing out. I did not but it was still fun. Another thing that people were unsure about was the true notion that Holmes would be a more prolific fighter, and boy was he. However, this new touch to Holmes was done in a very Holmes way. I won’t spoil it but it’s awesome. The movie is superbly shot and actually feels like it could be in Victorian England. The dialogue is excellent, fast paced, and witty. I was looking forward to this movie from the time that it was announced because I love Guy Ritchie and this was old school Guy Ritchie. All the actors are excellent, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Jude Law but he won me over and who in this country doesn’t like Rachel McAdams?

I’m having to reach for the negatives. Some of the dialogue is too fast and you feel you missed something and parts are too quiet. I caught a lot because I was expecting as such but my parents and brother did have a little trouble. Beyond that I really can’t think of a negative.

Don’t rent, buy this movie. It’s one of the best popcorn movies of 09 and you’ll want to watch it several times so you save money in the long run. Solid A.

The Blind Side 032310

The movie starts when a black man arrives at a Christian prep school with his son and a boy, Mike, who “sleeps on his couch from time to time”. He approaches the school’s coach and asks if he could put in a word for the two boys because they’re gifted athletes and he wants them to get out of the slop of public schools. The coach is amazed at their natural talent and does so; even after Mike is found to be scholastically unable to be on a sports team, he still pushes for him to be admitted because it’s the right thing to do. Fast forward a few months, the son has dropped out but Mike, is still regularly attending though he keeps to himself and feels like an outcast because he’s homeless, black, and a good foot taller than everyone. The only person who makes an effort to befriend him is a young boy named S.J. One night, while driving home S.J.’s family sees Mike walking by the side of the road. The mother, Sandra Bullock, insists he come home with them since he has nowhere else to go. What follows is the story of Mike’s relationship with the family.

This appears to be a sports movie. It’s the true story of NFL left tackle Mike Oher’s life through college, and sports do play a part but it is not a sports movie. It’s a movie about how love can change someone’s life and how doing the right thing can be hard but is still worth doing. Sandra Bullock plays her character flipside from how we usually see her. She’s normally very sarcastic or a little on the silly side. This one jokes enough to make you like her but at the same time is essentially a dramatic role. If you’ve been a fan of her for a long time you almost think to yourself, aw... she’s grown up. She was the only one nominated for an award in this movie but that’s really just because her character stood out as the lead role. All the actors, even Tim McGraw, did an excellent job. Quinton Aaron in particular gave a very touching and mature performance as Mike. He looks ignorant but at the same time you can tell he’s not. Mom’s will cry at this movie.

This year, for the first time, there were ten best picture nominations and I think that’s the only reason this film got one. It’s a great movie but not that great. The pacing is very slow in the beginning and some of the jokes were a bit cheesy. But these are minor complaints about an otherwise really good movie.

B+. An excellent and touching family movie but nothing really new or groundbreaking.

Fantasitc Mr. Fox 032310

Mr. Fox is the area’s greatest farm thief. He and his wife can get anything from any farmer. Until, they both get caught in a trap, she tells him she’s pregnant, and he promises to get a safer job. Two years (twelve fox years) later, Mr. Fox is hitting a midlife crisis. The result? He buys a new, above-ground house and decides to relive his glory days by robbing three local farmers: Boggis, Buntz, and Bean three of the meanest, nastiest, ugliest farmers in the valley. At first, he’s happy, but then Bean finds out where Fox lives and the farmers declare war on him. Now, as they hunt for Fox, he has to try and stay alive but also keep his family safe as well as every other animal in the valley who have all been sucked into the fight.

I loved this movie. This movie is very strange and reminded me of Hoodwinked. It’s essentially an independent animated movie and it’s really funny. The jokes are all really random and the dialogue is really witty. It’s directed by indy legend Wes Anderson (and if you don’t like his movies, don’t worry it’s different), who has apparently been working on the stop motion film for five years and it was time well spent. Everything has a very unique look and the film feels longer than it is but in a good way. By that I mean it’s the same length as Hey Arnold! The Movie but that movie felt like it was only forty-five minutes or so which left you feeling cheated. Fantastic Mr Fox feels just right. The plot is great because for a kids movie, it gets really dark and, frankly, hopeless which always makes an ending more satisfying.

I’m really not sure what to tell you about the bad in this movie. There was one scene near the end that made no sense whatsoever and the ending itself felt overly long. Beyond that, this movie really isn’t for everyone. The humor is probably beneath some and not in others taste. I think they’re probably in a small minority but they are there.

An A. I enjoyed this movie the more than any I’ve seen since Sherlock Holmes in January. That’s going to be another glowing review next week.

Men Who Stare At Goats 032310

Ewan MacGregor is a really down on his luck reporter with an American accent. His wife has just left him for his editor and he’s determined to prove to her that he’s a real man by going to Iraq and reporting on the newly started war. The problem is: he doesn’t have the clearance to cross the border. But, he meets George Clooney, a previously retired psychic soldier who is on a secret mission. MacGregor had heard about this group of soldiers before and offers to tell the group’s story if George Clooney takes him with him. What follows is a strange story mixed with a history lesson.

This movie is quirky, it’s silly, and it’s really clever. The jokes are funny and the story is told very well. It intercuts between the history of the psychic soldiers (codenamed: Jedi) and the story Ewan MacGregor’s character is going through and you never lose interest and the problem that many stories working like that have, only really being interested in one of the stories, is kept at bay. The humor is kept at a constant because even when the dialogue isn’t being funny, the situation is so absurd that you keep laughing at it. It’s particularly funny to hear Ewan ask what a jedi is. If you don’t know why that’s funny, I have nothing more to say to you. There’s also an area of mystery surrounding George Clooney, where you’re consistently unsure if he’s insane, brainwashed, or really has the powers he’s claiming to have. Plus the politics you would expect surrounding the Iraq war aren’t really mentioned. There’s one scene that being anti-Iraq is the only explanation but it’s not annoying.

Really, my only complaint is the story, in the end, didn’t go anywhere. There wasn’t any dénouement, merely the ending of the story. There was no real villain. There was an antagonist but he really didn’t pose much of threat and he didn’t really meet much of an end.

The story is fun and really caters to those that enjoyed the nutty comedies of the 80’s. I give it a C+. Well worth watching but while people will still remember it, there will be no rebirth of watching it in about fifteen years.

Armored 031610

An armored truck company has just authorized its newest guard, and he’s having money issues. The other guards know this and use this as a selling point when they propose their scheme: steal their latest delivery and make it look like they were robbed. At first he refuses, but when he finds out he’s about to have his brother taken away by child services, he reconsiders on one condition: no one gets hurt. At first all looks good, until things start to go wrong, leading to violence. Now the new guy is locked in an armored car while the others try to get him out to kill him so he won’t rat on them.

This movie was a great idea for a thriller. It’s a very simple plot, money heist goes wrong, guy gets cold feet, others turn on him. You become invested in the lead to the point, that more than not dying, you don’t want him to abandon his principles.

This is the most annoying type of bad movie, the kind that could’ve been really good. It suffers from both a sub-par script and either bad directing or too much studio involvement. Not enough time is paid to the situation and the movie jumps to different plot points too swiftly for you to really grasp what’s going on and why. The conclusion felt forced, swift, and unsatisfying. While, yes, you are very attached to the lead role, he’s the only one remotely developed or consistent in his character. As for the poor script, most of the dialogue was completely unnatural. There was one conversation where one character says the other’s name in pretty much every sentence. No one talks like that. And something has to be said about the marketing team. Way too much was revealed in the trailers. One scene that probably would’ve been really tense was completely ruined by the fact that I knew how it ended already.

A great film that almost was. D+. Don’t bother watching it. Really not worth it.

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day 030910

Ten years after the original Boondock Saints, the MacManus brothers are living in self inflicted exile in their ancestral home of Ireland. Back in Boston a priest is murdered and the culprit makes it look like the Saints are behind it. This is something up with which they will not put. The brothers return to Boston to wreak their vigilante justice on the man who dared besmirch their name.

This movie was pretty awesome. It had a lot of new action and jokes, as well as revisiting the old jokes in a non annoying way. It was a lot of fun and didn’t destroy the original. It’s sad that that’s what you wish for in the world of sequels but I’ll take it when it happens. It was about the characters and was made not to make money but to make the fans of the original happy.

The jokes were occasionally hokie and the new side kick was a little annoying and I found myself wishing he’d die. Plus as creepy as he was in the original the absence of Willem Defoe was a detraction.

I didn’t have much to say because I saw this awhile ago. It gets a B-. Not as good as the original but worth seeing. You do have to see the original first though. And if you haven’t... why?

Planet 51 030910

A planet of aliens apparently going through the 50’s (when the world went kind of alien nuts) is turned upside down when an astronaut lands on the planet. The aliens become convinced that aliens are invading their planet which means the astronaut must be dissected. This complicates the life of the young teen alien who befriends him.

This movie had several really clever lines and did a great job of making spoofs of sci-fi cliches. Pretty much any big name alien movie you can think of is mocked and by someone who clearly loves them. One particularly funny thing is the occasionally brought up joke of who really is the alien, the human or the aliens who live there. Then you find out that pretty much the entire production crew was hispanic. I mean, everyone but the voices. It was racistly funny. Hilarious.

Now the bad. There was barely anything original other than a few jokes. There was the role flip of the human being the alien but beyond that, nothing happened that was new. It was the same alien movies with the one change. Dwayne Johnson is usually very funny but his job of voicing the astronaut should’ve been given to Patrick Warburton because he’s awesome. There was a hippie guy too, always protesting the military’s involvement, and the hippies seemed to be mocked because it was expected not because the director or writer actually find them funny or worthy of derision. They are and should be.

D+. Little kids will like it but you’ll want to rent something else. This was made by Warner Bros and Pixar’s title of the brilliant animators is safe.

Up In The Air 030910

George Clooney has an interesting job. He fires people for a living. Whenever someone doesn’t have the balls to fire someone themselves, they call his firm and he flies to do the dirty deed. The sad part is he enjoys it. He has no friends and no contact with his family. Not only that, he’s trying to break into the lecture circuit by telling people that the way to go is to have no connections in life. All he’s living for right now is becoming the seventh person to ever reach the 10,000,000 frequent flyer mile mark. But his life is turned upside down when a new girl, both at his firm and to Hollywood, suggests to the manager going completely digital and removing the need to fly anywhere. This is a problem because it destroys his chances of reaching his mark as well as keep him from running into his recent acquaintance Alex, a woman he’s drawn to because she’s just like him. George convinces his boss the new girl doesn’t know anything about the real world of firing people which lands him the responsibility of bringing her as a tag along.

I really liked this movie considering the slow pacing and the faux indy look it went for. I actually found the musical opening credits very entertaining as well. The director is Jason Reitman of Juno fame and it’s great to see that while the humor is similar, this is not a teen movie. This is more of an adult dramedy and it’s great that he’s not stuck in a mold. George Clooney does a great job of playing a character that you should despise but instead pity because he’s sad and doesn’t know it. The new girl, Anna Kendrick, I didn’t want to like her, because all she’s done other than this is the Twilight series and... blech (rifftrax.com. Go there if you share my opinion). But, she has now been added to my list of young actresses to keep an eye on. A: she’s adorable and B: she’s actually very good. She easily holds her own in scenes with veteran actors George Clooney and Jason Bateman, seeming very comfortable around them and in front of the camera.

The bad. The pacing was a little slow and as you know I’m not a fan of the whole indy movement. Somehow they all feel like the director is spitting on your music taste and saying you should like these bands instead. The movie also had a somewhat open ending, and you’re not entirely sure what happens. You know George has been pushed to change but you’re not sure if he will. The R rating was also unnecessary. It deserved it because of the language but had they toned down on that just a little, it could have easily received a PG-13 and been just as good. Not really a point against the movie, just the marketing team. These are minor critiques in an otherwise enjoyable movie.

B+. A great date night movie, that you’ll also want to buy at discount because the urge to see it again will probably hit you randomly.

2012 030210

India, 2009: a geologist visits his astrophysicist friend in India and is told something startling. The sun has started producing a normally harmless form of radiation in such a large quantity that the earth’s solid center core is now melting which will cause it to expand and swell against the crust. Government heads are informed and preparations are made. Fast forward three years. John Cusack is an out of work writer on a camping trip with his estranged children. He meets a strange hermit, Woody Harrelson, who starts rambling about his conspiracy theories involving the US government and the approaching apocalypse. Soon after, the world literally starts falling apart and John is fighting to keep his family alive through it all.

I went into this movie expecting to be positively biased. I love John Cusack. I love Roland Emmerich, the director. I’m also partial to disaster flicks and this was one heck of a disaster flick. It was easily twice as awesome a spectacle as Day After Tomorrow and had none of the politics. Beyond the spectacle, it once again exhibited Emmerich’s great gifting as a director. He’s very well aware that you can make an amazing visual spectacle but that’s not enough to keep people’s interest. What you need is the human dynamic and characters that you like and identify with. Emmerich is a master of the ensemble cast, and seems to effortlessly both keep up with and develop the incredibly large number of characters in all of his movies. This is no exception, with just about every death that you see affecting you emotionally without you feeling manipulated.

Now, some of the characters are a touch cliched. The good scientist, the bad selfish scientist, the humanitarian chick, the father, the kids who don’t like the father, the mother etc. We’ve seen all the characters before but I’m okay with that. Some of the dialogue was almost expectedly bad but I didn’t really care because I’m still recovering from GI Joe. Don’t watch that.

With spectacular special effects and engaging characters this movie is totally worth watching. A- because I gave Zombieland an A and it wasn’t quite that cool.

Gentlemen Broncos 030210

A young homeschooled boy(the kid from Sky High) goes to a writing conference where he attends workshops hosted by one of his favorite sci-fi writers (Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement). He submits one of his novels for a writing contest only to have it stolen by his hard-up-for-an-idea hero.

Jemaine stole the story idea and this movie. His portrayal of a primadonna sci-fi writer who feels everything he writes is great because he wrote it is fun, funny, and easily the best part of the movie. Bar none. I personally felt myself identifying with the lead role a lot because I’ve had a lot of the same thoughts about being a writer and not trusting people, etc and in that regard it was a pretty honest interpretation of the young writer. Christopher Paolini may disagree with me but no one cares what he thinks.

Okay, this movie was directed by the guy that made Napoleon Dynamite and it’s just like Napoleon Dynamite with different characters and more of a plot. It even had the same opening credits only with books instead of plates. ND was successful because it was totally unique at the time. It was a different type of quirky than we’d seen before. But now, after six years of copies, rip-offs, and homages it’s not unique anymore. And without that aspect, it’s kind of stupid. Some may enjoy this but I thought it was slow and fairly boring when Jemaine wasn’t on screen. This is kind of sad because the lead is on my list of young actors to keep an eye on. He deserves to do better movies than this and frankly I expect better of Jemaine.

D. It’s a big waste of time and even the energy used both by you to watch it and that you’ll have to pay for in your electric bill later.

The Box 022310

Cameron Diaz and James Matheson are a married couple with an eleven year-old son. Matheson is a NASA scientist who just found out that his request to be an astronaut has been denied. Diaz is a school teacher who just found out she’s getting a pay cut. The same day, Frank Langella arrives and gives them a box with a button. He tells them that if they press it someone, somewhere that they don’t know will die and they’ll be given a million dollars for pushing the button. They decide that the whole thing is a joke and press the button, but when they’re given the million dollars they become paranoid and guilt ridden. Now they try and figure out who this man is and what they did.

This is the third film by Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame and I was really looking forward to it. His films, while very strange, are extremely atmospheric and you find tension building for no reason immediately after the film starts. The idea of him making a thriller is still very appealing but this wasn’t one. That’s not to say that it wasn’t good. All of Kelly’s films are strange because he uses them to explore philosophy and religion, and he does the same thing here. The parallel to original sin was very intriguing (Diaz presses the button but Matheson did nothing to stop her). The couple’s attempt to discover what was going on are incredibly tense because they stumble onto something that appears to be part zombie cult and part invasion of the body snatchers, making it very creepy.

Like Kelly’s second film, Southland Tales, the weak point is the ending. Part of Donnie Darko’s brilliance was the movie makes absolutely no sense at all. For the entire movie you are completely lost until the very end. In the last three minutes of the movie one plot twist arrives that makes the entire movie make sense. This didn’t do something that drastic, but the ending lacked a definite conclusion. The main plotline was wrapped up but there were at least three or four minor plots that were left hanging. Plus the scenes following the ending seemed to set up a sequel and you want one because one sub plot seemed to involve the coming end of the world I’d like that to be explained a little more.

The Box is good, but it gets too caught up in its own complexity. Fans of Kelly and the strange will enjoy but it’s certainly not for everyone. C - .

The Damned United 022310

Michael Sheen plays Brian Clough, a British football (soccer) coach with a gift. He can take a nobody team and in a very short time make them the dominate team in the country. This leads to pride and being a jerk and the movie explores his character growth.

This is a movie that normally I wouldn’t give a second look. I’m not a fan of soccer by any stretch of the imagination and I really don’t like bio movies because they’re frequently boring. The reason is, a movie should not be about a person. It should be about something. Benjamin Button was boring because it had no plot, it was just his life. Contrariwise, Amazing Grace was a great movie because while it was about William Wilberforce, it was more about William Wilberforce trying to end slavery in the UK. Now, that being said, I looked at this movie because I like the lead actor. I was happy to find out though, that while it is about Clough, it’s more about Clough’s obsession with fellow coach Don Revie. Beating him at every turn becomes his white whale and the extent to which he tries to go to accomplish this goal is both sad and engaging.

Damned United does have its weak points. Pacing is a little slow but you’re okay with that because the scenes in the slow spots are still entertaining. There’s also a few unexplained things. At one point, Clough’s wife and daughter disappear and he’s with his sons alone. Whether they got a divorce or what is unexplained. Adding that drama would’ve brought the movie down but they still could’ve mentioned what happened.

Really, a great drama starring one of Britain’s rising actors. B all the way.

The Informant 022310

Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a young executive with a company called ADM that deals in agricultural products, particularly corn by-products. He becomes aware of corporate crime and goes to the FBI about it. They ask him to be a spy for them and help take down the company; a job he’s really not qualified for.

This movie exhibits one thing that we are all very aware of: Matt Damon is a really good actor. He’s gone through the roles of a hard raised genius, a borderline psychotic angel of death, a reluctant super agent who doesn’t want to be, a young, excited thief desperate to prove himself to the big dogs, and now a character that can only be described as a dork. The way he dresses, the way he walks, the way he talks are all so not Jason Bourne or even Matt Damon that it’s easy to forget who it is. Mark’s ineptitude at being a spy is really great to watch, and it’s great that this movie never goes anti-corporate America on you. Right now, that’s refreshing.

The biggest setback for the movie is it’s based on a true story. The problem with true stories is they rarely just end and once we get to the end of this one it blends into another story. This would be fine, but the movie also switches gears on you. It goes from being and enjoyable comedy (not hilarious but enjoyable) to being some kind of psychological drama. You essentially end up watching two different, but good, movies. However, you don’t want to do that and the flip is kind of jarring.

Spot on acting throughout from all involved make this movie worth watching but it can’t save it from its story problems. C.