live!

meant to be a commentary on the evils of reality tv, the film is about a live game show of russian roulette where each contestant may die on live tv.  the whole thing was pretty cheesy and obvious.  clearly the writer thought they were being profound and deep about the evils of where reality tv will end up, but instead its just a preachy and self important chintzy looking movie.

who am i?

a chinese import, poorly dubbed to capitalize on jackie chan's fame in america.  the stunts are great, as always, but the movie itself is pretty lame.

hanna

an intriguing and well told story of a girl raised by her assassin father in the isolated woods.  she has been trained to fight whatever she came across, and when her father is finally hunted down, hanna must use that training to survive.  ronan does an amazing job of being a stoic silent killer.

prometheus

what a disappointment.  this one had so much potential.  the original director returning to the alien franchise to bring us the great story of the xenomorph's origin?  my expectations and excitement was really high.  the movie looks really great- the 3D was incredible, but the story that was told was so scatterbrained and stupid that the whole thing just came up empty.  it went in too many directions, none of which were what anyone wanted.  and the characters just acted in such so stupidly!  its like the writers thought to themselves 'whats the stupidest decision that this character could make right now?' and then proceeded with whatever they came up with.  but it does look amazing, so that keeps it from a one star.

abraham lincoln: vampire hunter

this is not a great movie, but its so ludicrous and so much fun that i forgive it a lot of shortcomings.  a fight on top of wild mustangs stampeding?  yes please!  its just so dumb that is passes into genius!

the change-up

a modern take on freaky friday, this movie plays off the idea of a married man and a swinging bachelor trading places.  needless to say, it doesn't turn out well for either of them!  the film isn't great, but when you've got jason bateman and ryan reynolds as the two leads, their charisma alone is enough to cover a multitude of shortcomings.

the avengers

five movies in the making, this was the culmination of not just the movies before it, but of my entire childhood!  i was an avid comic book reader, so to finally see this team-up on the big screen was the fulfillment of my childhood dreams.  and it was so good that it exceeded all of those expectations?  well, not many movies can have that much expected of it and not crumble, but this one was everything i hoped and dreamed.  five years later its still one of the best comic book movies ever made.

zoolander

this one might not be as good as i think it is, but for some reason the humor in it hits me right in the sweet spot!  ever since i saw it the first time i've been quoting it ever since.  there are so many fantastic bits in it that i smile right now just thinking about the dance off, zoolander's roommates, the vip club, duchovny's hand model, will farrel's mugotu, etc.  i could go on for hours!  what makes this one even better is all the amazing bonus features on the dvd.  there are at least 3 hours of extra stuff on there and all of it is gold! this one is probably a time five comedies of all time for me.

synecdoche new york

a charlie kaufman film that is very strange.  granted, that's all charlie kaufman films, but this one is especially weird.  its the story of a director who wants to put on a play of his life, but he wants to make it as accurate as possible, so he hires people to play himself and everyone in his life.  not just the people he knows and loves, but also everyone in the street that he passes by and everyone in the apartments that go unnoticed.  and he wants it performed in real time, just the day to day events of his life.  on a set that's exactly the same as his real life.  yeah, its every bit as weird as it sounds.  i didn't quite get it myself.  i would probably appreciate it more on a second viewing, but on my first watch i didn't really care for it.

limitless

a very compelling premise: what if a pill could unlock your full potential?  it may not have been the greatest movie ever, but something about it, its acting, style, and direction made it rise above the rest of the films at the time.  i may be grading a little more than it deserves, but the potential for the story is so interesting that it clouded my criticisms of the film.

rise of the planet of the apes

i've never had much love for the original planet of the apes, but i was very curious about the new adaptation.  overall i was pretty impressed- the ape effects were good and the story of where the whole thing began was compelling- even if it did star james franco...

transformers dark of the moon

i have been forbidden from watching transformers movies after i saw this one.  my wife said that it put me in too bad of a mood that it ruined her day because of how much it ruined my day.  apparently when a movie is this god-awful it can have a tangible effect on my mood.  i guess that should tell you all you need to know about my thoughts on this abomination.

the fighter

a great film that follows the career of a boston boxer as he tries to make a name for himself.  the interesting angle of the film is the relationship he had with his brother.  how the brother struggles with living in the shadows of the boxer's glory and tries to keep his addictions at bay is where the film really gets its heart.  an amazing performance by christian bale, and mark wahlberg does and admirable job as well.

unknown

one of the many movies that liam neeson did after his 'taken' success, this is unfortunately one of the lesser entries into the aged action star category.  he plays a man who wakes up and is going in for an important meeting when, for some unknown reason, no one seems to know who he is.  it's kind of anti-amnesia.  he knows who he is and what his life is, but no one else does.  his boss doesn't recognize him, his wife doesn't know who he is.  an interesting premise, but not that well executed.

beetlejuice

i used to love this movie!  actually, i don't think my parents let me see it when it came out, my first contact with it was actually through the terrible cartoon that was on saturday mornings.  eventually as a teen i saw the movie and really liked it, but i'm sorry to inform you- it doesn't hold up.  the biggest problem with the movie is the fact that beetlejuice is hardly even in it!  he's by far the best part of the movie, but he really only interacts with the rest of the cast for all of 7 minutes of the runtime!  michael keaton is fantastic in the role, but the role is a lot smaller than you remember.  i wish i could say it holds up better than it does, but i'm not going to lie just for nostalgia's sake.

poltergeist

for some reason i hadn't seen this one before, so i figured i should correct that oversight.  it ended up being pretty good, but i kind of thought it would be better.  i think at this point some of it's power is lost due to all the copycats and imitators that have been created since.

13

this one had an interesting story.  a guy who needs some extra money and somehow finds himself involved in an underground russian roulette gambling ring.  there are actually a ton of famous people who make cameos along the way, including jason statham!  the script could have used another pass or two, but the story is worth watching.

priest

i've got to be honest, i don't really remember this one at all.  its not very good though, i do remember that.

midnight in paris

ugh.  i really don't understand the love for this movie.  the script is really stilted and obvious.  usually i like owen wilson, but even he couldn't save this lame ode to nostalgia.  sorry to woody allen, i still haven't seen a movie of his that i like.

multiplicity

this one isn't that great, but its not nearly as bad as it's reputation.  the thing that saves it from being terrible is how much michael keaton commits to the different parts he plays.  there are quite a few laughs, but they are not from the script.

jackass 3

look, i know these jackass movies are terrible, but i have to admit that i like them.  as terrible and society destroying as they are, they are actually pretty good!  if you've ever watched any of the multitude of jackass knock-offs, then you know how bad they can be.  these guys though, are surprisingly clever and fun with their stunts.

trick r treat

a very lame collection of horror shorts strung together as a night of kids going around trick or treating on halloween.  none of the stories are either clever nor scary.  i don't get why people like this film.  its turned into a bit of a cult classic at this point and i don't get it at all.

stay tuned

i remember when this one first came out and being very intrigued by it.  turns out there was no reason for that...  the premise follows an unhappy couple as they unknowingly make a deal with the devil that leads to them being trapped in their tv.  as the channel changes, so does their peril.  there are some interesting elements that are included, one of which is an animated portion done with chuck jones himself!  unfortunately the sum is a lot less then the sum of its parts.  everyone is trying really hard in this movie, but all of it leads to nothing worth while at all.  disappointing.

sucker punch

this is a challenging one.  its kind of hard to nail down, the film is at times a story of female empowerment, but the next minute it seems misogynistic.  i'm not entirely sure which the director intended, so i'm just going to assume that he meant it to be the former, not the latter.  the story follows a young woman as she is checked in to a mental ward.  she and some of the other inmates formulate a plan to get out, at each step along the way everything becomes a fantasy and the task must be accomplished in a different dream world- a samurai battle, world war one, a dragon attack, etc.  though the storyline has too many questionable elements for some, the visuals of the film make it worth seeing.  even if you don't like it, you have to admit that it is a gorgeous film.

hall pass

ugh.  the concept of this one is so lame and offensive that it was doomed before it even started.  the idea that a wife would give her husband a 'hall pass' to have sex with anyone he wants is just dumb.  and this one never comes close to rising above that terrible concept.  owen wilson and jason sudekis flounder in this unfunny comedy that tries for the grossout, but ends up being toothless and amateurish.

never let you go

a great and unusual drama that is set in an alternate world where medical advancements have made it so that people can live well over 100 years.  this comes though, at a cost.  the three leads in this film must deal with the realities of that cost as it has an immediate effect on them.  as they learn the reality of their existence they learn about the implications of love and the larger world around them.  i'm being a bit vague here, but that's because the plot reveals are an important part of appreciating the story and i don't want to spoil them for anyone who may want to watch it.

three men and a little lady

not nearly as fun or cute as the original.  the story is much weaker and the humor is a lot more miss than hit, but the charm of the three leads saves this one from being a total disaster.

three men and a baby

this one is a fun little movie about three friends who are rooming together and have to deal with a baby being left on their doorstep.  its a ridiculous concept that is mostly played for laughs, which would have fallen flat if it weren't for the great cast they got.  selleck and danson are fantastic, showing off the great comedy chops they honed on tv, and guttenberg is clearly having a lot of fun too.  my one major problem with this film is the strange subplot about a heist that they get caught up in.  what is that doing in this movie?  i have no idea...

someone marry barry

though it may not be a good movie, i rather enjoyed this little romantic comedy.  mostly my enjoyment can be chalked up to the fantastic cast.  the lead, played by the always fantastic tyler labine, is a guy who is so childish and resistant to growing up that even his friends are sick of him.  the movie starts with all of barry's friends married and deciding that what they really need to do is find someone for barry.  not necessarily because they want him to be happy, more just that they are sick of him and want him to have someone else to bother.  the only problem is that they set him up with lucy punch- who happens to be even worse than barry!  its rediculous and fun, and thats all i was really expecting, so i was happy with the final product.

the phantom

i don't know why this movie got as much hate as it did when it first came out- i think its fantastic!  granted, after tim burton's 'batman' was such a success, movie studios seemed to get the wrong idea from it, it seemed like they collectively figured 'well, batman seems to be set in a 1940's era, so that's probably what made it so popular', and then proceeded to make superhero type  movies that were exclusively set in the 40's.  this one was a part of the glut along with 'dick tracy' and 'the shadow'.  both of those were lackluster, but i think this one actually delivers!  it taps into the fun adventurer swashbuckler sort of action as indiana jones, only its with a superhero.  in my opinion billy zane is almost as good as a harrison ford from indy, but i know i'm in the minority on that one...  no matter what people may have thought of it at the time, its totally worth revisiting because its such a fun and ridiculous romp!

buried

this is an impressive experiment.  they say that when you put limits on art it forces you to be more creative and work smarted to try and overcome those limits.  i cant think of a movie that had more limits placed on it than this film.  they whole thing is set in a wooden box the size of a coffin.  ryan reynolds stars as the only actor in the film (other than a voice or two on the other end of his cell phone).  he finds himself buried alive and has to try and figure out what went wrong and how to get help to get out of there!  the whole thing is surprisingly intense and exciting.  for all its limits, its still quite dynamic and interesting.  the developments and turns the plot takes along the way work well and leave an intense finale.

9

a kinda weird post apocalyptic animated movie about 9 robots who have a part of the soul of the man who caused the apocalypse in the first place.  yeah, its even stranger than that.  it doesn't make much sense and the animation is less than stellar.  this is one that would have been better as a stop motion style film.  oh, and a couple more passes through the script before going ahead...

due date

yeah, this one's really bad.  it reminded me a lot of 'identity theft' with melissa mccarthy and jason bateman, except that one was better.  downey's manic suave persona does not gel well with galifianakis' sort of humor.  both of them are great separate, but this is a very clear case of the total being less than the sum of its parts.

splice

this movie asks the question 'what if you created a new life form a la frankenstein, and then as it grew to maturity, you kinda thought it was hot?'  yes, its creepy and kinda skeevy, but that's the premise.  where it goes from there has some scary moments, but for the most part it falls flat and is relatively bland for such a dark and twisted premise.

bridesmaids

a very funny gross-out comedy from a woman's perspective.  the story follows kristen wigg as she attends a friend's wedding as a bridesmaid and has to come to terms with the place she is in her life at her age.  the interpersonal relationships are funny and capture a perspective we hadn't really seen much of until this point.  most comedies are about infantalized men as they realize their age, but this one takes that same journey from a woman's perspective.  seems simple enough, but its done with such heart and interesting characterization that it becomes noteworthy for presenting something different.  and its super funny!

moneyball

a fantastic film about baseball.  now, there aren't many of those- i can probably count them on 3 fingers, but his one is quite remarkable.  what is really interesting about this one is that it's not actually about the game of baseball, rather, its about the numbers and stats of the players.  to be honest though, as soon as i knew it was written by aaron sorkin, i knew i would love it!  i'm a big sorkin fan going back to sports night and have loved everything he's done since, so it's not a real surprise that i loved this film too.
this film on paper sounds terrible: its the story of a guy who manages a baseball team based on numbers.  boring.  except that the writing and acting take this one to a most amazing place- its interesting and compelling in a way that i would have never expected.  the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes are what really make this film crackle and come alive with energy.  pitt, hill, hoffman, and pratt make this one come alive with so much heart and interest that i couldn't help but get drawn in and cheer when they found success.

knight and day

a kind of lame take on the secret agent and the girl who gets caught up in the latest assignment.  cruise and diaz are great together, as they have shown before in vanilla sky, but even the good acting, competent directing, and beautiful locations can't save this stinker.

repo men

the premise of this sci-fi story is that in the future you can buy new organs when yours goes bad.  the problem is that its really expensive and if you miss a payment, well, the repo men are coming to take that organ back.  jude law and forest whitaker are the guys who come to take back the organs from those who are past due.  sure, this removal usually results in death, but that's just part of the job.  for an interesting concept, it really falls back into the tropes and cliches of an action/sci-fi film.

timer

a light sci-fi romantic film that adds an interesting element to finding your soulmate: you can get a digital implant in your arm that is a countdown clock to when you will find the love of your life.  sure, it hopes you don't ask any big questions like 'how could it know the future?', but don't worry, you can look past it pretty easily.  we follow a woman who decides to get the implant and when she turns it on she finds out that its blank!  what does that mean and how does she deal with that is where the film goes.  its more interesting than it is good- a great premise, but not that great of a follow through.

hit and run

is this a great movie? no, but it sure it a lot of fun!  there is no pretense in this one, it just simply meant to be a good time.  this one is the passion project of dax shepherd- it was written by, co-directed, and stars dax and his wife.  there are some great chase scenes and funny bits along the way, but this one is just pure fun!

movie 43

the marketing for this movie is definitely correct: this one is very outrageous.  its a sort of series of short stories linked together, each story is filled with famous people doing really gross-out and crude things.  now, is it funny? some of it is, but not enough to make it worth the effort.  its mostly just gross for the sake of being gross.  for as much talent as there is in front the of the camera, that same talent is missing behind the camera.  the farrelly brothers really dropped the ball on this one.  some of the stories have good elements, but they just weren't crafted enough to make them actually good stories.

Lone survivor

ugh.  my dad really wanted to see this one in the theater, i knew it wasn't exactly my style, but it's not like i'm going to turn down an invitation to the movie theater!  its 100% one of those 'rah rah merica!' type movies and doesn't really dig beyond that level of depth.  its a perfectly fine and well made movie, the roles are well acted and the whole thing is very competently made, its just that it was so hollow and predictable.  you know exactly how its going to end- just look at the title!  as i was watching it i realized that this movie is basically a horror film.  it follows all the tropes of a horror film: we are introduced to some young beautiful people, we get to know them while their defenses are down and they are joking around with each other, but once the terror begins, they each get killed one by one by a faceless killer until the last remaining person has to face them and defeat them.  oh, and its super gory.  i'm not usually interested in war movies, and i have very little patience for patriotic garbage.  this one fits exactly into all the stuff i do not like.

jiro dreams of sushi

this is the kind of documentary i love: a look at someone who does something very specific, but does it really well.  this film follows jiro, a man in japan who owns a small sushi restaurant who has worked over the course of his lifetime to make the best sushi he can.  and apparently all that work has paid off: his food has earned three michelin stars- one of only about 120 restaurants in the world to earn this prestigious ranking.
the film looks at all the elements that go into jiro making his perfect sushi, all the steps along the way like making the right rice, picking the perfect fish from the fish docks, and everything else you could possibly imagine.  an interesting element in the documentary is the relationship jiro has with his son and the other workers who have dedicated their lives to making this food.

the killer elite

this one should have been really cool: the staith, clive owen, and de niro.  now thats a pretty cool tough guy cast!  unfortunately the whole thing is very lame and convoluted.  i basically love anything with the staith, but this one was rough even for him!

50/50

a look at what its like to face your death when your life has hardly even begun.  the film looks at a young man who is diagnosed with cancer and must deal with the repercussions of the news.  at times funny, other times moving, the whole thing is a great study of the struggles someone would have if they are told they might die in their mid 20s.

scott pilgrim vs. the world

a fun movie based on the indie comic book of the same name, the story follows scott pilgrim as he must defeat the seven previous loves of his soon to be girlfriend before he can claim her for himself.  the whole movie is set up like a video game, through its editing and end of the level boss battle set-up.  the effects and style of the film perfectly capture the fun of a video game, which creates a really interesting and fun world that the film takes place in.  sure its totally an example of style over substance, but oh what style!

predators

following the cue from its sister series, this one takes the name of the original and just adds an 's'.  we hadn't seen this series outside of the 'avp' films in 20 years, so it was time for a follow-up to the terrible 'predator 2'.  this one takes our heroes to another planet where the predators come to hunt them.  as the name would suggest, there are multiple creatures coming to take down our human crew this time.  as the humans are taken down one by one, there are some plot twists and reveals that keep it interesting.  i wouldn't necessarily call this one a good movie, i would say that its a lot of fun, and compared to the other films in the series, its pretty good.

green hornet

was it a good idea to reboot this series? yes.  was it a good idea to get seth rogen to play the title character? no.  but they do a valiant job trying to overcome that obstacle.  granted, this is not a good movie, but for what it is its a lot of fun.  rogen does his best, despite the miscasting, chou is great as kato, who is the real star of the series anyway.  they clearly did the best they could with what they had, so i don't fault the film for coming up short- its not nearly as short as i was expecting!

the losers

 

a comic book movie based on the not so well known comic of the same name, the story follows a rag tag bunch of assassins who team up together to do a job.  they find that the job isn't quite as cut and dry as they were promised, and they realize they have been set up.  how they deal with it takes some twists and turns along the way where not everyone is going to make it to the end.

this one is definitely a B movie, but its a pretty fun one.

lion king 3D

this one is amazing, of course.  who doesn't love the lion king?  its definitely one of the top three animated movies of all time (personally, i'd put the top three as 'beauty and the beast', 'prince of egypt', and 'lion king', but not necessarily in that order).  with this being such an incredible film, we eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to see it again on the big screen- in 3D no less!  and it did not disappoint.  its just as fresh as ever, and the conversion on this one was breathtaking!  i could go on and on about how marvelous this movie is, how transcendent the music is, or how perfectly formed the characters and story is, but you already know.