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.

the tourist

this one got a lot of heat for being terrible, but i must admit, i rather liked it.  the story follows a tourist, played by johnny depp, as he meets a woman, angelina jolie, who seems to be a spy on the run.  depp's character seems to be just minding his own business on a vacation through europe when she meets him and get him all caught up in her secret spy world.  i'm not sure all the twists and turns of the film work, but its fun to see these two go along for the ride.

code 46

an interesting movie set in a dystopian future where clones are everywhere and travel outside of your designated city is very restricted.  in the story tim robbins plays a government employee who tracks down people who forge documents allowing them to travel.  along the way he meets up with samantha morton, a forger.  as they fall for each other, they realize that its not just the documents that are illegal, so is their love.  the story is an interesting one, but at times a bit too convoluted.  thankfully much of that is overcome by the good acting and directing.

clash of the titans

this is one of those classic examples of a sequel that no one asked for.  the first movie was a hit and so they made a second one.  the problem is that they didn't seem to realize that many people saw the first one but no one, and i mean no one, actually liked the first one.  the only reason it was a hit is because this was one of the first films to capitalize on the new 3D fad.  most saw through the terrible 3D conversion and saw the emperor had no clothes.  learning nothing from the first one, they doubled down on the dumb writing and embarrassing affects that hindered the first one.  amazingly, they were able to make this one even worse- i'm actually kind of impressed!

tangled

a good disney princess movie that plays with some of the aspects of the well known fairy tale, and adds in some nice songs along the way.  this one came out at a time when disney was scarred for some reason to actually have a movie about a princess, that's why its named 'tangled' instead of rapunzel.  there is an unnecessary focus on the guy in the film that doesn't seem at all needed.  fortunately the misdirected focus does not throw the whole film too far off course, so we still get some great character moments with rapunzel and her 'mother'.  the whole thing has a fun adventure feel to it and is a lot of fun.

catfish

we all know what this term means now, its been added to the  dictionary and has had a popular show on mtv for several years.  but when it first came out the idea and meaning had not been created- this is the film that coined the term.  i had no idea what it was about and was enraptured the entire film as the story unfolded.  it follows the story of nev as he tries to meet the woman he has been having an online relationship with.  he pieces together what little information he has, he does some research and investigation and the trail leads him to the person that he has been communicating with.  since this was a new concept at the time, it was really novel and interesting to see it all revealed.  since this deception happened to him, he has since gone on to help others find the truth in their online relationships through the many seasons of the mtv show.  this documentary plays out like a detective story with many twists and turns, the important difference is that it is the real journey of its subject as he deals with the reality as it happens.

megamind

there must have been something in the air back in 2010, because we got despicable me and this movie within 4 months of each other- both are centered on supervillains who hatch crazy plots but eventually decide to turn good.  they both even have characters called minion!  the funny thing is that they are both fronted and have the comedic stylings of two guys from anchorman- despicable me has steve carell at its center, and this one has will ferrell leading the way.  wow, there really are a ton of similarities...
this one follows the supervillain megamind as he deals with the fact that the hero he fights against decides to quit and walk away from the crime fighting business.  this leaves our villain confused and reassessing his life- who is he without  his nemesis?  its also very funny, so that helps too!

devil

based on an idea from m. night shyamalan, this movie takes place entirely in an elevator.  the premise is that 5 people are stuck in an elevator together and each time the power goes out something terrible happens.  there's only five people, so one of them must be doing the terrible thing.  the film does a pretty good job of making the small location interesting and ramps up the tension as the film goes on.  as far as small horror films go, its pretty good.

futureworld

i really loved the original westworld movie.  it was written and directed by michael crichton, an author i really enjoy.  it was a huge hit when it first came out, so of course they made a sequel!  the only problem is that they didn't have any of the talent from the first one back.  somehow they snagged peter fonda for the film, but that's about all this one has going for it.  the most ridiculous thing about this movie: it touts yul brynner being in it- he was the villain and best part of the last one- but that is really a lie.  he is only on screen for less than 10 seconds, and the only shot of him in the film is actually just a cut scene from westworld.  see that poster image for the film?  the character with the hat?  yeah, he's not actually in the film.  how's that for truth in advertising?
the movie itself had an interesting premise: the company that created westworld has been inviting world leaders to their parks and then replacing them so they can take over the world.  the problem is that this explanation is more interesting than anything in the actual movie though...

johnny mnemonic

his one is just as bad as you remember hearing.  the tech stuff is laughable, the story is nonsensical, and the acting is worse.  bad all around.

dont be afraid of the dark

i'll admit, i saw this one because it was billed as 'guillermo del toro presents' this movie.  he produced it and co wrote it.  i am a sucker for almost anything del toro does, so i was in.  this movie is actually a remake of the original 1973 tv movie, but much of it is changed.  the basic story remains, but there are some important differences, like this one has a little girl as its hero instead of an adult man.  the main idea and inspiration for this seems to be twisting the tooth fairy myth and turning it very dark.  it has some good scares and fun atmosphere- a forgotten horror movie that was rather fun.

flashbacks of a fool

the story of a washed up actor, played by daniel craig, as he finds out his childhood friend has died.  he flashes back to his life as a kid when they were close and how things fell apart between them.  we see just how terrible of a friend craig was and how his actions caused those around him to loose what they loved and destroyed their lives.  the main character is so unlikable and selfish that its hard to really enjoy the movie.

a perfect getaway

this one is a hidden gem!  the story follows two couples who go on a vacation to a beautiful island getaway.  they are having a great time and spend the day hiking through the gorgeous trails of the island.  while on the trail they meet up with another couple who asks to join them.  as they continue on the hike things start to get weirder and weirder as the two friendly couples realize that this third couple may not be who they claim.  the locations are amazing and the tension amps up so well that you cant help but get drawn in and feel for these couples.  also, a very fun cast with steve zahn, milla jovovich, and chris hemsworth.

alchemy

a pretty dumb story of a computer whiz who tries to get a woman to fall in love with his dating computer program.  and wouldn't you know it, after some miscommunication and confusion, the two of them end up falling in love.  its telling that this one never made it to theaters, instead was shown on the abc family channel.  and even as far as that goes, its not necessarily one of the good abc family channel movies...

how do you know

a very convoluted story of a woman who falls for two men and has to decide what to do about it.  the whole thing is made more confusing by a plot involving one of the guys being investigated for corporate fraud and the threat of jail time.  yeah, it goes from light and breezy to unrealistically heavy and life destroying, all while keeping things at a surface rom-com level.  sorry, even the very likable cast couldn't keep this wreck afloat.

kung fu panda 2

who would have thought a cartoon panda voiced by jack black would be so emotionally moving and well written?  the story of po as he accepts the mantle of being the great warrior is a great look at what it means to find your place in the world, but still be uncertain of who you are.  as he fights off the bad guy he continues to develop his friendships with the other five warriors, and discover the mysteries of where he came from.  to see his history with his parents is very touching and surprisingly emotional.  and the whole movie is visually gorgeous and still quite funny!

pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides

ugh.  i really enjoyed the first three pirates movies, i'll even defend the 3rd one, but this?  this one is just terrible.  the story makes no sense, jumps around, and goes nowhere.  as strange as it seems, this one really suffered without keira knighly and orlando bloom.  though they weren't that great in the first three, they at least kept the movie grounded and relatable.  the villain is lame and all the stuff with the mermaids is just plain stupid.  even jack sparrow can't save this one.

captain america: first avenger

oh man, this movie was great!  when they first announced that they were making a captain america movie i was very skeptical, how could they make such a cheesy hero into something cool?  especially today, when the world is so against america in general?  but somehow they did it!  they took the superhero movie and turned it into a war film.  the thing that makes this work so well is the starry eyed optimism of steve rogers.  his unbreakable spirit is infectious as he joins the army and goes through the training.  the whole thing is done incredibly well and sets the perfect stage for him to return in modern times and lead the avengers.  still one of the best superhero movies out there!

insidious

a pretty good spooky little movie about a family that begins to be haunted by demons.  the scares are pretty good and the twists and turns are well thought out.  one clever bit that they do is something you always want them to do in horror movies:  when they realize the house is haunted- they move!  the only problem is that the demon follows them...  shoot.  the little creature is kinda funny looking, he just looks like a creepy darth maul!

harry potter and the deathly hallows pt 2

it finally comes to an end.  they do a good job of raising the stakes and building up the tension.  the final solution to getting rid of voldemort is not as cool as i had hoped, but its still relatively satisfying.

harry potter and the deathly hallows pt. 1

i'm not a huge fan of harry potter.  i've never read any of the books and haven't cared for most of the movies.  sure, i've seen them all, but haven't really enjoyed them since the 3rd one.  this one was ok, i appreciated the fact that the series is now past the predictable nature of the first 5 or so and liked how things were ramped up a bit for this one.  there was a lot of set up and putting the pieces in place for the finale, but it was certainly an incomplete story.

invention of lying

the premise is quite interesting, the idea that no one is capable of lying. the only problem is that it is really poorly executed. it seems that the writers of this movie dont quite understand what lying is, they seem to think that lying is being mean.  the premise is only there in service to ricky gervais' religious opinions, not as a way of actually looking at what that situation might be like, instead its just a way for him to rail on everyone and say that God is not real.  its hard to get past the basics on this one when its so ham-fisted and mean.

diamonds

this movie follows three generations of men as they try to overcome their broken relationships and try to get along anyway.  after all, if they can just work together, there's a scheme that might lead them to millions of dollars in diamonds!  its not a very good movie, and it seems like kirk douglas still wanted to do a movie after his stroke, and this was the best that the writers could come up with to accommodate.

book of eli

another great movie from denzel!  this is a really good 'western' set in the dystopic future where denzel is the keeper of a book that he must keep safe.  there are some interesting reveals through out the movie, but i'm not entirely sure how consistent it is.  i'm going to have to watch this one again...

my best friend's wedding

i never saw this one when it came out so i wasn't influenced by all the hype around it, and there was a ton!  between julia roberts at the height of her popularity and cameron diaz becoming the next big thing, this one was huge.  seeing it after all that had blown over i was able to see it for what it was: a mediocre romantic comedy with some funny jokes, but mostly just lame misunderstandings and forced relationship issues.

full frontal

an indie drama/comedy thats filled with recognizable names, it tries to be clever in its talky parts, but isn't nearly as clever as it thinks it is.  david duchovny is pretty fun in it, but for the most part it just kind of sits there, never really moving along or doing anything that leads somewhere.

noise

this is one of those 'issue' movies that are trying to say something about society, but in doing so they really simplify the problem and don't allow for subtlety or the actual complexity of the situation to be explored.  in this movie, tim robbins plays a guy who's really mad at how loud the city is.  yeah, its as dumb as it sounds.

day of wrath

i am an unabashed fan of christopher lambert, so when i saw this one at the movie place, i knew i needed to see it.  he wa so much fun in highlander and mortal kombat, i will see him in anything.  now, keep in mind, i don't think he's a great actor or he is in great movies, but i do know that i don't care how bad he or they are.  a buddy and i got this one along with a bunch more in order to have a late night movie-thon, we were expecting to get some movies that were so bad they were good and just have a good time making fun of them.  well, this one turned out to be something quite unexpected- its actually a movie with a message.  the whole story hinges on a series of murders and the implication that its motivated by antisemitism.  it turned out to be much better than anticipated!

endgame

an interesting look at the final days of the south african apartheid and the last minute brokering and deal making in order to make sure it happens.  with a fantastic cast including william hurt, chiwetel ejiofor, and mark strong, this one delivers a thrilling and gripping story.

existenz

this one made no sense at all.  a strange cronenberg movie obsessed with body horror, as usual.  the nonsense virtual reality video game at its center is lame and pointless.

frozen

we all know this movie and how good it is, instead i want to talk about the terrible parenting that happens.  why would the parents think its a good idea to hide and ignore the problem with elsa?  sure, elsa accidentally used her power and something bad happened, but forcing her to never tell her sister about it and instead keeping the two of them apart for their whole childhood?  how is this even acceptable in an animated movie?  its no wonder the two of them have a hard life and elsa banishes herself to live alone forever- they basically raised her to think there is no other option!  the fact that the two of them grow up to be as relatively well adjusted as they are is a miracle!  and also, elsa can create sentient life?  so she's a god?!?  how is that not addressed?  if the soundtrack to this movie wasn't so amazing there's no way anyone would give this story a pass.

hangover part 2

i absolutely loved the first hangover movie, so i was pretty interested in the second one.  oops, my mistake.  instead of giving us a great film, they just took the first one and made it again, except this time without the humor.  instead they made it grimier, grosser, and a whole lot meaner.  there are no new jokes, just the same ones as before, except without the wit and joy.  no thank you.

x-men: first class

usually reboots to popular franchises don't work, but this one is fantastic.  they got a great director in matthew vaughn, and some amazing talent with mcavoy, fassbender, and lawrence to help us forget the previous incarnation.  the setting changes to the 60's as we see the genesis of the x-men and follow charles xavier's journey from selfish collage kid to selfless team leader as he and his troop try to save the world during the cuban missile crisis.  this movie deserves to be in the upper echelon of x-men movies just for the perfect hugh jackman cameo!

family business

a heist movie that spans three generations as the grandpa, son, and grandson have to reluctantly work together in their own way to make the thing come together.  its a fairly run of the mill story that is elevated because of the fantastic cast of connery, hoffman, and broderick.

cable guy

right at the height of his popularity, jim carrey made this strange gem.  before this one he was known for straight comedies, light hearted silly stuff like ace ventura, dumb and dumber, and the mask.  with this film he took his humor to a very dark place.  directed by ben stiller, this movie was not a hit, carrey's first miss as a lead actor.  i always took issue with that though, i saw this one in the theater and have loved it ever since.  yes, its a lot darker than his previous stuff, but now we know this is more in line with who he is as a person that those other films.
this one follows a man as he reluctantly befriends the cable guy who hooks him up with free pay channels.  their friendship becomes something much darker as carrey begins to stalk him and make his life hell.  the unexpectedly dark twists and turns in this one are interesting and take this comedy from your standard fluff and turn it into a commentary on our tv obsessed culture.  my one problem with the film is that they didn't completely commit to it and pull back at the end by giving it a happy ending instead of the dark conclusion that the film truly leads up to.

everything is illuminated

a very interesting and vividly colored journey of a young man trying to figure out a mystery involving his diseased grandfather.  the story is very strange in its surreal twists and turns, introducing some very colorful characters.  the best of which is alex, an interpreter who goes along on the wild journey.  elijah wood does an amazing job in this, liev schreiber's directorial debut.  its funny, strange, and very moving.

another you

the last film with the amazing comedy duo of gene wilder and richard pryor, this one is unfortunately not their best.  the story follows wilder as a man just getting out of a mental institution who is mistaken for a missing wealthy man (also played by wilder).  pryor's character sees the opportunity in this situation and takes over claiming this man is the real missing rich man.  though it hardly holds a candle to some of the pair's best work like stir crazy, there is a moment or two where you can see the old spark.  but not much.

piccadilly jim

sam rockwell does a fantastic job of being a turn of the century rascal among the upper crust society.  a funny and charming turn in this enjoyable period piece.

stir crazy

it doesn't get much better than gene wilder!  and richard pryor is no slouch either.  the two of them are hired as mascots for a fast food joint and accidentally get involved in a heist.  my favorite part is when they are at the rodeo at the end.  a hilarious movie- its no wonder these two worked together so often, they are comedy gold together!

to wong foo, thanks for everything! julie newmar

a fun little movie.  i'm sure it caused quite a stir when it first came out- the super manly patrick swayze and wesley snipes playing transvestites?  yeah, that is a bit unexpected!
though the set up and cast is very shocking and strange, the movie itself is anything but.  the whole thing is very run of the mill 'city girls stuck in the country' as they try to understand the small town and they try to understand their big city ways.  its very tame by today's standards, but i suppose it had to start somewhere.

greenberg

a somewhat depressing drama/comedy starring ben stiller as a miserable man who looks down on everyone else for their choices and way of life.  he is all the worst aspects of a hipster, seeing everyone else as less than himself, yet actually seems to hate himself just as much.  i think this movie might be categorized as a 'mumble core' movie.  its interesting to see this sort of character portrayed, but the film rarely takes it beyond the limits of its main character.

angus

my attachment to this one is kind of strange. the soundtrack for the movie features the song 'am i wrong?' by love spit love, which i became obsessed with for a long time.  i had never seen the movie itself, so i was interested in checking it out eventually.  i finally got a chance, and i was not disappointed.  i know this is a pretty run-of-the-mill teen movie where the unpopular kid stands up for himself and things go better for him at the end, but there were aspects of this one that i could relate to in myself, which probably gave it more of an impact for me.  also, its got ariana richards, who i totally had a crush on when i was 13...

salt

a cool sort of bourne identity story except with a woman action hero instead.  this film has some great action and intrigue and had a twist that is fantastic!  i'm kinda surprised they haven't made more of these...

thor

i wasn't so sure about this one when they first started showing previews of it.  the hokey norse mythology aspect looked pretty ridiculous.  i have no connection with the comic book origins, having never read a thor comic in my life.  yet, all that aside, i really loved this movie!  chris hemsworth was an amazing discovery in this film, he perfectly embodies the god of thunder and his old english style.  all the asgard stuff was absolutely fantastic- kenneth branough was the perfect choice to direct this movie, turning it from a superhero movie into a shakespearean melodrama about gods and mythology.  the stuff that takes place on earth isn't nearly as interesting, but the grandness and scope of the asgard world more than makes up for it.  what a treat!

edge of darkness

mel gibson plays a man who is looking for revenge after his daughter is killed.  the problem is that the people behind her killing aren't who they seem, and in fact, this one may go all the way to the top.  gibson does a pretty good job of playing a man out for vengeance, as we have seen with payback and ransom.  a fairly run of the mill revenge film, gibson still has it, even after all the garbage in his personal life.