Movie Reviews Are Fun

Shrink

2009-10-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

This was a very underrated, under-advertised Kevin Spacey movie. It is tagged as a comedy, but the presentation utilizes very somber colors and a melancholy soundtrack.

In the box office it was limited release, for what amounted to, I think, less than a month. Gross was somewhere between $90,000 and $189,000 dollars. Practically nothing.

All that to say that I absolutely loved this movie. The first half you're really trying to haphazardly figure out how everything that is going on intertwines.

I would liken its style almost to the movie Crash, in feel. It was a deep presentation of seemingly "broken" human beings, and just how they are coping and living.

I found it simple, ever-so-slightly heartwarming, and beautiful.

Law Abiding Citizen

2009-10-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this movie, very entertaining. See spoilers if you're OK with a ruined ending but want to know more.

Gerard Butler did great, and Jamie Foxx did...okay.

[section removed for containing spoilers]

Nonetheless, it was a good ride. Some of the Jamie Foxx vs Gerard Butler dialogue scenes were tension-filled and great.

Best line from the movie as delivered by Gerard: "That's what a wrench is for, dumbass." (it makes a lot more sense in context)

Critic response: The hell are you guys giving it such low ratings for? 15/100 on RT, C- on yahoo. It wasn't a blockbuster movie, but it hardly deserve that. I'd put your crappy reviews on-par with your Terminator Salvation reviews. No, not an outstanding movie either, but it wasn't *terrible*.

Reviewer response: Keep up the 10/10's review revolt against critics, that's the joy of the internet.

Final words: It's rated R for violence, language, and a rape scene. Okay. The violence was pretty tame compared to many movies this year, 90% of the time it was insinuated because they just cut away and didn't show anything. You hardly notice the language. And the rape scene wasn't at all what I was expecting. I expected something painful to watch like Last House on the Left. What I got was the guy shoving Gerard's wife to the floor, and unbuckling his pants. Then the scene changes. You don't see anything and given how much was left to the imagination and the dialogue following, it actually appeared that he never got around to doing what he was going to do because he got interrupted. Nonetheless, if I was Gerard's character I'd be pissed off too, and while his retaliation was a little on the unbelievable side, I wouldn't blame him.

Recommend? Yes! If you like these kinds of movies, you will enjoy it.

Zombieland

2009-10-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

Great movie!

If you're into zombies...or even if you aren't, this is a fun flick.

It has a strong opening, a good ending, but there are some pacing issues in the middle. However, overall it met my expectations and I had a lot of fun watching it.

I recommend it.

Paranormal Activity

2009-10-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

Better than I expected, and I do not normally like movies like this.

I found it pretty entertaining, slightly frightening, and presented in an interesting manner.

Unfortunately, I am prone to getting motion sick and 15-20 minutes in I already felt it. By the end, my head was pounding.

Nonetheless, if you're into these types of movies, I recommend it.

Surrogates

2009-10-04T03:20:00.000-07:00

Not amazing, but not terrible. I found both the acting and story just so-so.

However, they did a pretty good job showing the development of Surrogates in a sort of supply/demand fashion. The acceptance and adoption of Surrogate-use was believable. The group of people who lived in a community against Surrogate-use was also believable.

Overall, I see it as a completely plausible future and story/acting aside, the rest of the elements seemed fairly spot-on.

Recommend? If you're into this sort of stuff, yes. Though, I didn't watch it for the acting/story, I watched it largely for some sort of societal commentary.

Sky High

2009-09-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

Disney superhero flick. Generic/predictable good versus evil storyline.

Very G/PG rated, and as far as silly superhero disney-like films go, Pixar's "The Incredibles" was much better.

But nonetheless, it was a fun, amusing, and cute film.

Recommend? - Yeah, if you've got some time to kill and want to watch an innocent, fun movie.

Two For the Money

2009-09-16T17:12:00.001-07:00

2005 sports betting movie with Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, and Rene Russo.

I enjoyed this movie, actually. It got pretty terrible reviews, but I am sort of a sucker for movies like this. It seemed a little like Boiler Room, only with a sports betting group.

I thought that the dramatic elements of the movie were pretty good, and one of them leaves the viewer sort of in the dark until the end, which was a nice touch.

Recommend? Yeah, it'd be an entertaining rental or on-demand viewing.

The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations

2009-09-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Better than the 2nd, worst than the 1st.

I'm sure you will all hate me for saying this, but I really liked the first movie (neat idea, pretty good execution, and ashton kutcher). The second movie was utter failure. I could barely get through it and even after I did, I didn't even find it mildly entertaining.

This one was actually better than I expected. I expected a re-fail like the 2nd, but it was actually pretty good once it got moving. The ending has a bit of a twist and I definitely didn't expect it. It was also slightly creepy. I was thinking the movie was pretty predictable up until that point, oops.

There are some pointless scenes that I felt could have been cut (like the sex scene, it disrupted the flow of the movie and added nothing). This movie definitely had more of a horror feel than the others, as there are a number of killing/death scenes that are overdone.

Recommend: Yeah, as a rental or...borrow - if you liked the first one. Don't bother with the second.

Trading Places (1983)

2009-09-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

This movie was actually mildly entertaining.

I laughed a few times and found the ending satisfactory.

Recommend: Yeah, if you're looking to kill some time with an old 1980's comedy, it isn't too bad. Not the best.

Extreme Movie and Sex Pot

2009-09-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

I combined this review because they both get the same results:

Stupid frat humor. Stupid execution. Stupid characters. Stupid.

Recommend: No.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

2009-09-16T17:09:00.001-07:00

Crappy acting. Crappy story. Crappy presentation. Stupid jokes. Not even funny.

Inglourious Basterds

2009-09-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Just another Quentin Tarantino film. I don't really like his movies. They aren't artistic. They aren't excellent social commentaries or classic remakes. And the overdone violence isn't funny or cool - it is just pointless and adds nothing.

The opening scene was actually pretty well done, I thought. The rest of the movie, meh. It was about 50 minutes too long (it is 2 hours and 36ish minutes total) and dragged/plodded along in some parts.

Brad Pitt did well in his role.

The body count in this movie was less than other Tarantino films, but still overdone.

Recommend? - If you've seen other Quentin Tarantino films, you're not really missing much if you don't see this one.

The Whole Nine Yards / The Whole Ten Yards

2009-09-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Nine Yards: Nothing special.

Ten Yards: Worse than the first.

Mildly amusing: Barely.

Recommend? - No.

The Wackness

2009-09-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing special.

Sub-par acting (since the main characters are pretty much...just being themselves from RL, really) - surrounded by drug-use/drug sales, crappy relationships/marriages, and a lot of seemingly pointless sex scenes that add nothing.

The film picked up and just started getting good...in the last 3 minutes. Then it was over.

Recommend? - Not really. It's dark. Which isn't bad in and of itself, but there is no real resolution (or climactic element), no self-introspective prodding, ...nothing. It's dark. It is. Then it is over.

The Reader

2009-09-16T17:06:00.001-07:00

The first hour of this film is pretty painfully delivered dialogue, very little story progression, and a good amount of nudity and sex. It took every ounce of my being to muscle through it and not just turn it off.

Then everything got better. The climactic elements started being introduced. The story actually started moving.

All in all, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. I am not sure it deserved awards or fantastic reviews and such, but it wasn't bad. The end sort of tapered off and got sluggish.

Recommend? - Not really. You could honestly probably watch the last half or so of the film and not be missing anything too key to the movie. It felt like a cheap lifetime flick that you watch late at night to kill time before falling asleep. But nothing worth paying theater price or going out of your way to see.

Beautiful (2009)

2009-09-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Boring, not worth watching. Low budget - reviews said the acting made up for it - and honestly, the acting wasn't bad.

But the story was just a bore, it wasn't anything like I was expecting, and had no redeeming qualities. The first 30 minutes sucked, the last 15 minutes sucked, and what was in between only half sucked.

Recommend? - No.

A Perfect Getaway

2009-09-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Hmm, what to say about this movie...

It isn't as much of a Thriller/Horror was the tags would make you think. I would put it more into a general action/murder mystery/drama.

It is pretty slow in the beginning, but it gets bearable/better about halfway through.

It has an alright twist in it - I didn't see it coming, but I also don't watch movies like this very much.

Recommend? Sort of? It's entertaining and was actually better than I expected, but it didn't have much of a "wow" factor.

District 9

2009-09-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Awesome movie.

The way it was presented was kind of new, and it took me a little bit to get used to it, but I think it really added to the film - making it more believable and real.

It is less an action, more a social commentary. Though there is still a great deal of violence and explosions and stuff, it isn't really the focus of the movie. I think it'd be fair to say that is shares similarities with Watchmen in that respect, but it is a far different movie, presented in a far different way, and making a very different point.

I liked how it showed the cruelty of humankind juxtaposed with the "more human" aliens (ironic use of the term "human", but you get what i mean). This is what made the movie for me. It wasn't the aliens who were the enemy, per se, it was the human's and their sheer disrespect and lack of care for others.

I get the feeling the aliens could have really blown away or killed off the humans with the weaponry they had, but they chose not to. They allowed themselves this degree of oppression, like being the better person, because they had a bigger, better goal in mind.

Highly recommend.

Fighting

2009-09-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

Lol, this movie kind of sucked. I expected it to suck though.

The only thing that made it watchable for me was all the anger/fighting, I dunno, for some reason it amused me :/

Beyond that, the movie has a shoddy story, with shoddy acting, and pretty much 0 climactic elements.

Terrence Howard's character talks like he hasn't slept in 3 days, is high on pot, and is ending every sentence trailing off, FOR EVERY SINGLE LINE. It got really annoying.

Channing Tatum is just McSuck. I don't know why he keeps getting cast for movies, he's not even good at what he's cast for.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

2009-09-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Another summer action flick that fails.

Worse acting, worse one-liners, worse character development, and worse story than Transformers 2.

It really felt like they didn't even try. Almost all the dialogue made me facepalm, versus Transformers 2 where mostly only Megan Fox's dialogue made me facepalm. Dennis Quaid did horrible. The best line delivery in the movie was Brendan Fraser, and he had about 10 seconds of screen time as a, basically, background extra.

To boot, the CGI was sub-par compared to Transformers 2, so thus it didn't really redeem itself. It had some shining moments of awesomeness, but it had A LOT of moments that just blended horribly.

Yes, I enjoyed parts of it for purely mindless entertainment value, but sans the character introduction/development and story execution - it felt overtly meaningless and vapid.

Notes:

Brunetteblonde should not be wearing heels, she looks stupid trying to walk in them in most scenes.

Redhead was cuter than the Brunetteblonde.

Snake should've been WAY cooler and awesome, but the lack of development and just piss-poor execution ruined him.

I would recommend this movie if you're at all interested in G.I. Joe things, just for entertainment value and maybe to see your favorite character on the big screen. But for the rest of us, if you saw Transformers/Transformers 2, Terminator Salvation, or Wolverine this summer - its all the same.

edit: Nanotechnology scares me, to be quite honest.

500 Days of Summer

2009-09-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

I know there was a pre-release topic here somewhere, but I decided to post anew since this post is actually about seeing it.

It was great. One of the better films I've seen this year. I loved the way it was shot/presented, though I can see how some might find it cumbersome. I, however, thought it was clever and fun.

Things I liked:
* Joseph Gordon-Levitt
* Zooey Deschanel
* Cinematography
* Regina Spektor on the soundtrack, more than once.
* It isn't your joe-average romcom. I came out of the movie and my first reaction was, "well...that was different."

Things I disliked (and also liked):
* I love Zooey Deschanel, but I disliked her character. She was a bitch. I guess she was supposed to be...but wow.

Would I recommend? - Yes, very much so. Go see it.

Inkheart

2009-09-16T16:58:00.001-07:00

Hmm, definitely rated PG.

It was a neat idea and it was mildly amusing. Sort of silly, childy execution - but I was expecting that.

If you're bored, want some mild entertainment, it is worth watching. Reviews I read compared it to Stardust, but I would say Stardust is way way better.

Funny People

2009-09-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

The climactic elements of the movie were poorly developed.

The romance was just dumb, and centered largely around various acts of cheating and lying.

The funny parts were only moderately funny.

It was also way too long, 2 hours and 30 minutes or so. It really dragged on and on.

Just another summer disappointment :/

The Chumscrubber

2009-09-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

I highly recommend this movie. If you liked Donnie Darko, chances are you'll like this.

Short plot summary: The Chumscrubber is a darkly satiric story about life crumbling in the midst of a seemingly idyllic suburbia.

It also stars Justin Chatwin and Jamie Bell, good times. Camilla Belle is also good.

The Ugly Truth

2009-09-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, this movie was actually a lot funnier than I expected. I went into it expecting epic fail, and I actually enjoyed it.

I was entertained by Gerard Butler's character, especially more towards the beginning of the movie (the only sad part being that I think that's kinda his story IRL :/).

Katherine Heigl, though I don't really like her, didn't do too bad either - also better more towards the beginning of the movie.

I feel like the movie sort of dropped off after about 1 hour, 5ish minutes which was supposed to be the climax of the movie and then the resolution. Unfortunately, the movie is only about 15 more minutes long and the execution at this point felt really rushed/forced. Then the pre-credits final scene was just pointless. Not a huge deal, but it broke the momentum.

I recommend this movie for fun and laughs. It is good times.