father of the bride part 2

i really loved the first movie, 'father of the bride', but this one falls pretty flat.  the first movie sets up the family, steve martin as the father who cant quite accept that his little girl has grown up and is going to marry.  well, this one plays that exact same note, only this time he cant believe his daughter is going to have a baby.  that would have been a fun set up, considering the well crafted characters from the first film, but then they have to take it one step further and have diane keaton, steve martin's wife, also become pregnant.  i had a really hard time believing that a 49 year old woman could get pregnant, so that alone ruined the movie for me.  also, the light hearted over-the-top qualities of the first film are pushed even farther this time around.  but this time it went too far over the top and landed somewhere absurd and unbelievable.  steve martin does a good job in this, as does the planner martin short, but the whole premise and follow through are just too much.  it takes everything that was sweet and believable in the first film and takes it too far out of the realm of realism.  a disappointing follow up to a wonderful family movie.

in time

a very intriguing sci-fi premise that takes the old idiom 'time is money' and makes it into reality.  in this dystopic future everyone stops aging at 30 and will die if they don't keep buying time.  their paycheck is uploaded into their arm (it makes sense, trust me) as time, when the timer runs out they die.  well, one of the upper one percent commits suicide and gives his millions of hours to some random guy.  we follow him as he tries to understand what happened and why the suicide happened in the first place.  this director has done the high concept sci-fi thing before to great effect with gattaca, but this time to lesser success.  justin timberlake does a good job, but the story falls apart in the second half.  the concept and acting carry it a long way though.

percy jackson & the olympians: the lightning thief

another young adult lit series translated to the screen that falls flat.  there have been so many of these over the past few years, and this one does nothing to distinguish itself from the rest.  the influence on this one is rooted in greek mythology, playing with the idea that it was all real and a young boy is actually one of the demigods.  he tries to uncover the mystery about himself and discovers his place in all of it.  clearly an opening gambit trying to start a new series to rival harry potter, this one suffers from bad writing and poor casting.  i'm not surprised that this one fizzled out after the second one- actually i'm kind of surprised that it made it to the second one!

a muppet christmas carol

at this point, this one is a classic, right?  for most people my age this film is not the preferred de facto version of the christmas carol.  the iconic story is now almost inseparable from kermit, gonzo, and michael caine.  the original dickens story is told with a more knowing style and plays a bit with the elements, tying them in with the muppet characters we all know and love.  a lot of the muppet work and design is very impressive, and caine is surprisingly game for the strange situation of making muppets feel real.  this one is an annual tradition in our house, as i'm sure it is for many others!

shrek the third

at one point these shrek movies were pretty good.  i don't know if i just outgrew them or if the pop culture references became dated, but what ever it is- they don't hold up!  i finally got around to watching this one and time as not been kind to it.  the story about shrek and fiona starting a family plays very bland and lifeless.  all the comedy beats lack comedy, which is a bit of a problem.  mike myers and eddie murphy are still a bit of fun as the voices of shrek and donkey, and puss in boots is a highlight, but the rest is not good at all.

unknown

the story of a job gone wrong, the people who were involved find themselves stuck in a warehouse.  the bother is that none of them really know or trust each other.  this sort of set-up has been done many times, but in this one the actors and writing are actually pretty good!  there are some interesting reveals and developments that keep it interesting.  definitely a recommend.

the wolfman

this one is a mess all around.  this is universal's latest attempt to revive their 'universal monsters' characters and it is pretty terrible.  plagued by production problems that lead to as much as 80 million dollars in reshoots, its clear that this one never stood a chance.  even with all that rejiggering, this is a limp and incoherent mess.  its too bad too, because they had a great cast: benicio del toro is perfect and inspired casting- he could have done something great with a good script.  its got emily blunt who is always good, and its even got sir anthony hopkins!  and they still flubbed it up royally!  too bad.

black swan

an interesting film about the effects of obsession.  i've always loved darren aronofsky's work, and this is his film that has earned the highest praises- nominated for an oscar and everything!  here's the problem though- i think its his least interesting film to date.  its well made and all, but i wasn't ever drawn in by the story or the characters.  but lets be realistic- a bad aronofsky is still pretty great.

adjustment bureau

a fun mystery movie about a couple who start to notice strange things keep happening, and every time it gets weird there's a guy in a hat who is always just leaving the scene.  the mystery itself is quite absurd, but the style and pace of the film raise it above the script's shortcomings.  and matt damon is always great!

sunset limited

an impressive story about two men and their struggle with race.  this is clearly a play that was translated to film, it has that typical sort of dialog that only plays have- monologue after monologue; and the whole thing takes place in one room of a new york apartment.  the writing is great and the acting is fantastic.  though there is absolutely nothing at all that is cinematic about this one, its still an interesting story very well told.

volunteers

i really wanted to like this one.  its got tom hanks and john candy and is written by a guy i really like- ken levine (he's got a great website and podcast that are a lot of fun), but it just totally falls flat.  from the ridiculous story line to the breathtakingly bad stereotypes, this one is just not nearly as good as it could have been.

fantastic mr. fox

a cute claymation movie directed by wes anderson.  its got his very specific artistic style which translates surprisingly well to this style of film.  george clooney provides the voice and effortless cool of mr. fox as he gets involved in a heist plot that gets everyone caught up in some silly situations.  the style on this thing is ramped up to 11, but the story itself, though cute and fun, is almost too light and airy.