One Sentence: Rated R romantic comedies are so much better. 

Rated: R

Running Time: 97 Minutes

Release Date: 03-Sep-2010

Nudity: Man Butt

As stated in my last review of Piranha 3-D, I like it when a movie is rated R for good reasons.  When you make a romantic comedy rated R, it is usually for very good reasons, and Going The Distance does it well.  I just like comedy that isn't watered down for the 13 year olds.  The whole approach to the movie seems different when you go for the R rating, it seems smarter, funnier and more adult.  Going The Distance is all of these things, and is a great date movie for you to go to this weekend.  

It seems like everyone involved in the movie embraced that they didn't have to censor themselves as much and it led to a very funny movie that also happens to be a date movie.  Everyone in this movie is hysterical.  The main characters were good, and I believed their romance, it felt natural and not forced.  This seems to be a gauge of how I rate romantic comedies now, if it feels natural.  Everyone in this movie felt natural.  Christina Applegate was amazing, her and the rest of the supporting cast really brought the movie together.  It was a very fun movie to watch.  If I had a complaint I didn't like the ending and when I say ending I mean literally the last 2 minutes of the movie.  However this detail is minor and my gf had no issues with it and she is the female so I am obviously wrong about the ending.  

There has been a lack of any quality date movies lately so Going The Distance is a nice change of pace.  So go this weekend to see it, it is well worth the evening price after dinner, or on Sunday afternoon or whenever you two can get to the theater.  You all are so cute. 

One Sentence: Lots of blood, boobs and bodies.

Rated: R

Running Time: 89 Minutes

Release Date: 20-Aug-2010

Nudity: Yes lots and lots of it. 

I am a fan of gratuitous movies.  I think that there are not enough of them. They just don't make them anymore because they don't make any money, which I guess means people don't like them, so I am probably by myself here, but Piranha 3D was gratuitous fun.  Take your preconceptions of what you think this movie will be and then add an order of magnitude to it.  That was Piranha 3D.  Everything about this movie was more than what I expected it to be.  Except for the 3D parts, but I am just going to pretend it wasn't in 3D at all.  

Here is the some of the cast, Elizabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, and Christopher Lloyd.  How can you not love that cast.  They were thrown into a really crazy movie, that took a little bit to get going, but once it did, lets just say there were a couple of times where I covered my eyes or cringed at all the excess.  I think the director was like, were making a 3-D fish movie, no need to pull any punches.  This movie is not for everyone, it is at times hard to watch, very bloody, and has 3D boobs in your face, but if that sounds like your speed then Piranha is the movie you were hoping it would be. 

The 3-D is a complete let down.  There is no reason to go see this movie in 3-D.  It almost serves no purpose and the extra ticket cost is not worth it at all.  However if you are a fan of crazy killer fish movies, then Piranha 3 is a great choice.  I would pay to go see it in the theater, because if you wait to rent it, and this movie flops, it will be an even longer time till the next totally un-necessary overdone killer something movie gets made, and that would be a shame. 

One Sentence: Doesn't follow the romantic comedy format and that is a good thing.

Rated: PG-13

Release Date: 19-Aug-2010

Nudity: None

I am just about done with Romantic Comedies, it's not that I don't like them.  Sometimes I think they are fun and I really don't mind them.  What I do mind however is that each one is almost exactly the same.   There is a meeting, he is charming, she is silly in some way, there is a misunderstanding and then a dash to catch her before she leaves for some country.   It is just getting boring.  The Switch brought together the romance and the comedy in a different way, at least enough for me to have a good time watching it. 

The Switch is not the new gold standing for which all romantic comedies should follow, but it does make it so that I felt like I was seeing something new, and I think that is just enough for me to not want to throw this movie into the trash with all the others that have come out lately.  First of all casting Jason Bateman is a nice change.  He's a bit older, more cynical and a nice change from the other leading men that have come lately, too bad they stuck with Jenn Aniston as the leading female who brought as little as usual.  The additional cast of Juliette Lewis and Jeff Goldblum were wonderful supporters and were very funny.   The good casting along with a different type of story and connection made The Switch a little bit better than most romantic comedies and gets a recommendation from me. 

With Piranha 3-D coming out this weekend however you have a hard choice on where to spend your movie dollars. If your significant other is anything like mine then she is begging to go see Piranha 3-D as soon as possible so that means you are stuck taking her and can't go see The Switch this weekend.  That is ok, you can rent this one.  So just add it to your queue right now and take her to the 3-D killer fish movie, she will be glad you did. 

One Sentence: My 32 years of popular culture experience wrapped into 2 hours.

Rated: PG-13

Running Time:  112 Minutes

Release Date:  13-Aug-2010

Nudity: None

As I have said before I don't read comic books, or graphic novels, so my knowledge of this story is my friend asking me to go to a midnight release of the 6th book and me saying no.  Even going into the theater I wasn't super amped about Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.  I thought it looked fun, but not "an epic of epic epicness" that the poster promised.   Leaving the theater last night and having my ass kicked in all kinds of ways by the epicness I can see now why my friends might totally geek out over these books, and the movie that we just watched.  

Scott Pilgrim was a movie made only for anyone that has lived most of their lives growing up with the internet.  The image is never still, there is movement or split screens or onomatopoeia on the screen.  There is music and fighting and hipsters and electronic music.  There is video game references all over the screen and it never stops, and for me, it was amazing.  It was 2 hours of kick ass fun, and I just wished it kept on going.  It was like geek core took over and made a movie and that movie was actually good.  Michael Cera was fine and the whole cast that backed him up was excellent.  I think the girl who played Knives Chan (amazing name right) was especially awesome.   However the whole cast just fit in and took to heart what they were trying to do with Scott Pilgrim and delivered.  It was a ton of fun.

So should you go see this movie?  You should if you are on the internet right now, if you play video games, if you were ever in a band or liked a girl, if you read comics, or were a raver, if you ever dyed your hair an unconventional color, or thought that you might not wash your hair because you thought it gave you the look you wanted, if you ever pierced something your mom didn't want you to, or if you ever were in love.  This movie is a great time, and I highly recommend it to anyone reading this movie review right now.

One Sentence: 3 people in a movie is all you need. 

Rated: R

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Release Date:  06-Jul-2010 in Austin

Nudity: Gemma Arterton naked.

The great thing about The Disappearance Of Alice Creed is it simplicity.  It is a tiny movie, set within a total of 3 sets with 3 total actors.  You do not need anymore than that and Alice Creed proves it.  A truly gripping kidnapping movie from the UK.  It takes hold from the first scene and doesn't let go until the credits, every moment of this movie was carefully put together so that there wasn't a moment that didn't seem crucial, important, or tense and it was amazing.  

Alice Creed is a movie with some twists.  Twists have gotten a bit of negative reviews from me lately, they seemed to be forced, or too easy.  Shutter Island felt this way to me, however Alice Creed takes every turn in a way that was unexpected and it is a welcome change to the force fed, need to be explained to the audience twists that have been happening as of late.   I loved every moment of Alice Creed, and it is high on my favorites for the year, it is defiantly my favorite "scary" or thriller of the year so far. 

So should you go pay for The Disappearance Of Alice Creed?  Well if you were like me feeling like you were seriously lacking in a good tense movie experience then yes.  Go to the theater, it is well worth the full price.  However it is not a necessity then you can wait.  A lot of you probably won't even get this movie in a theater near you so add it to your queue and rent away.  Oh and if your girlfriend doesn't like these type of movies, don't make her go or you might have to get some band-aids for the scratches all over your arms.  

One Sentence: The best use of 3-D in 2010. 

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 107 Minutes

Release Date:  06-Aug-2010

Nudity: None

I have already gotten crap for even going to see Step Up 3-D from my so called friends.  They don't know a secret though, I liked the last 2 Step Up Movies and after I saw the previews for Step Up 3-D I have to say I was a little bit excited.  Now this review is not going to be about how this film stacks up to something like Inception. What it is going to do is look at what it is, a dance movie, and how well it did that in 3-D. Well Step Up 3-D delivered the best non-animated 3-D experience of 2010 and I had a damn good time watching this movie in 3-D. 

Filmed 3-D has some limitations on angles.  You can't do everything you can with a normal camera, things have to be set up differently, this was perfect for a dance movie.  They had to place the camera down on the floor and shoot the dancing straight on, and I could not have been more impressed with the way it looked and that they didn't mess up all the amazing dancing with tons of quick short shots that cut away from what I am there to see, amazing ass dancing, awesome music and dope set up's in 3-D.  I got it all, along with a story that was good enough, and acting that was good enough that I didn't notice, which is exactly what I wanted.  This movie is not going to win any awards, but I don't care.  When you want to set up a room in your house with pillow floors and build a boom box speaker wall, something right happened in the movie you just saw.

It is rare that I say you have to go to the theater and in 3-D if you want to see this movie at all, this is one of those times.  Go see this movie in the theater, in 3-D if you like any type of hip-hop dance.  Step Up 3-D is not a renter, it was made to be seen in 3-D and I would say that it was totally worth it, I had a awesome time with it and I think you will too.  

One Sentence: Why does awkward and uncomfortable mean comedy?

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 110 Minutes

Release Date: 30-Jul-2010

Nudity: None

I think my least favorite type of movie is the type of movie where it is awkward, weird, mean spirited, and not really that funny, when it is supposed to be.  Dinner For Schmucks is that type of movie.  It takes me back to other awkward unneeded movies like Very Bad Things and Happiness.  Other tragic films dubbed as "comedies" because they can't call them 2 hour awkward wastes of time.  It just wouldn't sell tickets.  

Happily Dinner is not as bad as the other 2 movies I listed and has some funny parts.  Jemaine Clement from Flight Of The Concords is in Dinner For Schmucks and is very funny in every scene he is in and some other parts got a few laughs out of me.  But it is not enough to save the overall tasteless painful experience that Dinner For Schmucks is.  

I am not going to recommend this movie because it isn't that good and I also just don't have a fun experience watching this type of movie and don't think you will either.  Don't be fooled by the trailers that say the critics love it.  It just isn't very good. 

One Sentence: The Best Movie Of The Year

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 148 Minutes

Release Date: 16-Jul-2010

Nudity: None

This movie is not based on a book, and was written by Christopher Nolan as an original screenplay.  This movie is proof that there are original ideas in Hollywood and they can work, and we don't need to remake every movie from the 80's because they are out of ideas. 

Inception is an amazing original piece of work that in my opinion solidifies Christopher Nolan as one of the best movie makers of all time.  It is a wonderfully well built movie.  It is wonderfully shot, has a gripping story, great looking action and of course amazing acting by everyone involved.  I would consider Inception an action movie, or perhaps a sci-fi movie, but that doesn't matter because I think everyone will love it.  It is hard to put into words how skillfully done this movie is.  The way I can put it best is when I got out of the screening, I wanted to watch it again, right then.  It is so good and has so much going on that if you have the time you might want to see it twice in a row, and picking it up at the IMAX would not hurt either. 

As with every other Christopher Nolan movie that has come out I have considered it the best movie of the year, Inception fits into this slot easily and nicely.  Comparing this to every other movie I have seen this year, Inception will win awards for best movie, best original screen play and best director at least.  I think you all should buy your tickets for this movie as soon as you can, I will be seeing it for the second time this weekend.  

One Sentence: This movie has nothing to do with Lesbians. 

Rated: R

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Release Date: 09-Jul-2010

Nudity: 2 sets of boobs and lots of sex. 

So the story for this movie that you will get from the trailers if you live in a city where this movie might be screened is, that a Lesbian married couple had had 2 kids from the same sperm donor, and the kids decide to find this man and bring him into their life when the oldest turns 18.  So it seems edgy at least slightly, it's taboo, gay families, all of those type of hot button issues.  It has a message, for all you gay haters out there, I guess that is the idea of this well written, very funny, very real independent movie.  One problem, with the message, I didn't notice it or didn't care about it.  I am the target audience.  I am a professional liberal movie watching American.  The type of person who does not need to see this movie.  The message is wasted on me and while I liked the movie very much I feel like I should care more about the Lesbians or be enlightened by the movie, but I wasn't.

I don't care who the family is, I don't care who is raising the kids, and I sure don't care that it is 2 women who went to a sperm bank to have babies in a long term committed relationship. If the movie wasn't so well written and damn funny, I would not be recommending it to you all.  But I am and it is for those reasons, it deals with marriage (not gay marriage), families (not gay families) and growing up (not gay growing up) and it does it in a very funny package.  It doesn't feel forced, or pretentious.  I didn't feel like I had any agenda being pushed on me, and I feel like everyone in the movie did a great job.  I enjoyed the movie very much and I especially enjoyed the fact that when I left the theater the thing I was most hung up on was a question about the teen daughters Prius.  

So The Kids Are All Right is a very good movie, you will laugh, and be a bit upset and enjoy the whole movie.  It is worth a rental for sure, but I would skip it in the theater.  You don't need to spend the extra money on it.  Have a good time with it, it is quite funny, and maybe after you watch it you can realize what I did, that The Kids Are All Right has nothing to do with Lesbians, and that is a good thing. 

One Sentence: Everything I wanted in Toy Story 3 was in Despicable Me.

Rated: PG

Running Time: 95 Minutes

Release Date: 09-Jul-2010

Nudity: None

Sorry about this late review I have been sick and today just gained awareness of the world around me today.  So without further ado the review for the second best animated movie of the year behind How To Train Your Dragon, and not a far second place…Despicable Me.  Everything I complained about Toy Story 3 was missing Despicable Me had.  It was funny, really funny, it pushed animation to it's limit, it had a story that I loved and made me fall in love with some new animated characters.  This is what we are after in Animated movies.  Otherwise why have them be animated?  You have to push they past cute to super cute, past cuddly to super cuddly and past animation to 3-D super animation.  Otherwise why even bother.  Everything about Despicable Me delivered on these things, super cute, super cuddly and 3-D super animation. 

It looked amazing, and was very fun.  From the very beginning to the very end everything about Despicable Me was amazing.  I loved every actor, every character, every color, every little minion and their little weird language.  It had big awesome guns that were like transformers, and cuddly stuffed animals.  It had gadgets and villains and space ships and roller coasters and so many amazing things.  I just had so much fun watching this movie that I want to go see it again.   Even the 3-D was done well.   No overdone tricks, it was there, it was solid and it was colored right so that I didn't feel like I was watching a movie with sunglasses on.  This is what an animated 3-D movie should be and I loved every minute of it. 

I think it is pretty obvious that I think you should go see Despicable Me this weekend, if you do or do not have kids.  This movie is entertaining enough for the adults without kids to enjoy.  I would pay to go see it tonight at the 7 o'clock show.  Full 3-D price.  It was that good.