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.

chronicles of narnia: voyage of the dawn treader

not nearly as good as the first one, but i would argue that its better than the second, this movie follows the continuing adventures in the world of narnia.  this one focuses on different characters, with aslan, the evil queen, and most of the kids amounting to little more than a cameo.  if i remember correctly, this is one of the last stories in the series that includes very much of the kids.  the rest of them deal mostly with other characters in narnia.  tell you what, i'm ok with that.  the kids from this series are a lot less interesting than some other children's fantasy series...

how to train your dragon

i'm a sucker for a good kids movie, and this is pretty fun.  it follows the story of a kid who grows up in a community that hunts and kills dragons.  he though, is convinced that dragons shouldn't be killed- instead they should be embraced by his people.  he befriends one of them and learns to ride it.  the animation is pretty good, i can see why this one was so much fun in the theater in 3D!  the characters are well developed and further explored through out the series of movies and tv shows.  a fun set up and start to the world of dragons.

wayne's world

i'm pretty sure some major nostalgia is kicking in here, but this movie is actually really good!  i think this movie came out at just the right time for me to really love it, all the humor is pretty junior high level, and i was in junior high at the time- perfect!  this movie is based on a saturday night live skit that was created by mike meyers and dana carvey.  i remember seeing the skit on snl once or twice (not too often because my parents would rarely let me stay up that late, and when they did they certainly werent apt to let me watch snl!), and always thought they were really funny!  i think i was too young to really understand any of the sexual innuendo, so to me it was just a fun bit about two rock nerds in their basement.  how exactly they turned that little sketch into a full movie (and sequel!) is kind of impressive, really.  and to turn it into such a funny one at that!  the story follows two slackers who make a public access rock show in their basement as they are offered a chance to make it big.  the movie itself is more of a series of funny bits tied together as a makeshift movie, but those bits are so much fun!  i remember reenacting many of them with my friends, even.  watching it recently with my wife i began to realize that maybe this movie isnt as good as i seem to think it is...  she does not have the nostalgic memories of it and lost patience with it quickly, opting to read a book or play on her phone after about the first twenty minutes!  oh well, in my mind it still rocks, and even holds up to my memories all these years later.  party on, wayne!

tron: legacy

i dont think i have ever seen the original tron movie so i dont have any nastalgic recollection of the first one. i mostly just wanted to see this new one because it looked cool. well, it certainly did! the story starts 20 years after the original where jeff bridges character had created a world inside of a computer. it seems that he has been trapped in there ever since and his son has had to grow up without his father around. now incredibly wealthy (due to his father having invented some pretty amazing computery stuff), bridges' son has given up on doing anything worthwhile. one night he gets a message from his dad's old arcade. curious, he wanders in and discovers his dad's secret lab. he triggers the same mechanism as his father all those years ago and finds himself now a part of the computer program as well. over the past 20 years the program has been upgrading itself and trying to attain perfection so we see a vastly different version that the original movie. and boy is it an awesome version! the story of this film is not the draw here, the big draw is the amazing style and look of the computer world. the whole time i was watching it i knew that there was absolutely no substance to it, but the imagery was just so eye-poppingly amazing that i didnt even care! the hypnotic score by daft punk is the perfect combination to the slick visuals. this movie just drew me in big time! i know its not that good, but the look and sound of it just makes me want to go out and see it again as soon as possible!