Little Fockers

Well it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was worried at the beginning when there was an enema scene that it would be, but truth be told, I didn't think it was any worse than some of the other comedies I've watched the last little while. While there were few laugh out loud moments, it was cute, and the casting is so good, I just liked watching them.

Dustin Hoffman was absolutely adorable, ever since Kung Fu Panda I can't hear his voice without thinking of Shifu, which ups his cute factor too. Barbara Streisand is looking fabulous and so is Blythe Danner. It was nice to see Laura Dern, she always makes me nostalgic for Jurassic Park. Plus she was married to Ben Harper and I like that one song of his. Jessica Alba was beyond annoying, which I know was kind of the part she was supposed to play, but I think she took the role to unnecessarily annoying. And Robert DeNiro is a legend, and I really like the character of Jack Byrnes in all three of the Focker movies, but I was really embarrassed for him when he had a pop-tent (ahem). Nothing is worth those laughs when you are as iconic as DeNiro, plus it has been done before. The kids were cute, and Owen Wilson was just the right amount of strange. An unexpected appearance from Harvey Keitel was nice, but his storyline is never really developed. I still liked the dynamic between Stiller and DeNiro, and the Focker jokes weren't too over done. This one was not as good as the first two, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

Watchable.   

Armored

There were actually a lot of notable people in Armored: Matt Dillon, the crazy relationship guy from Couples Retreat, Morpheus, Sucre from Prison Break, Denny's Dad on Grey's Anatomy, "Hero" Milo Ventimiglia, and 90's teen heart throb Skeet Ulrich. So, not even being sarcastic, this movie had a pretty decent line up.

Unfortunately the word that came to mind when thinking about describing this movie was "generic". We don't get a lot of info about these characters, it's all pretty one dimensional. A group a guys work at Eagle Security driving armoured trucks (the money kind, actually is there any other kind?). Matt Dillon randomly tells the new guy that they are going to steal the money in their truck tomorrow and make it look like they were attacked and it was stolen (short notice much?!). Well, the new guy is hurting for cash, so he agrees "as long as no one gets hurt". Oh please, like that ever happens to be true. It must also be mentioned that Matt Dillon and the new guy's dad were really close friends, perhaps I even heard that Matt was the new guy's godfather? But this doesn't stop Matt Dillon from trying to kill the guy when he has a moral conflict and wants out. 

So going back to what I said about this being one-dimensional. Aside from the new guy (I looked up his name, it's Ty in the movie, no one special in real life, I just thought you would appreciate having a name) who we know wants the money so he doesn't lose his house to the bank or his brother to child services, we have no idea why the other guys want this money, I assumed greed, because no other reason is given. This becomes a problem because when things get ugly and people start getting hurt (uh oh) these guys do bad things for the money, and we have no idea what their motivation is. We also don't really know what their plan is, how long they have been planning, or how all the other guys got involved. There is definitely various levels of commitment to this plan, but whose idea was it and how did they approach the other guys about it? It was just a really simple movie, not necessarily bad, but simple.

If you want to watch a really great heist movie, try The Score or Inside Man.

How do you Know

When I would come across this one on my list of movies, I always had to remind myself that this was the one with Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson. The title was just forgettable, but after watching it, the title helped me better understand the film. I was ready to write about how you couldn't feel any chemistry between Reese and Owen or Reese and Paul Rudd, I didn't believe she was in love with either of them at any point of the movie and well, that's not quite the rom-com formula! She's supposed to be head-over-heels for both and have a really hard decision to make! At the end, when Paul Rudd says something to the effect of "You love me too" and Reese just kind of gives him a "maybe" look. It was then that I got it (maybe). You weren't supposed to feel the fireworks love in this one, it was supposed to be the uncertain love, the "how do you know it's love" love.

In the beginning, Owen Wilson asks his buddies how do you know if you're in love, the reply was kind of vulgar, but that's not the point. The thing was was that I thought it was perfectly normal for Owen to question if he was in love, but I just assumed that if Reese was moving in with this guy she MUST be in love. I kind of liked the "what is love, and am I in it?" struggle, it was done so subtly with Reese's character that I didn't really notice until the end. The whole time I was waiting for fireworks and professions of love, when sometimes love is just a whisper.

I love me some Jack Nicholson, that man is pushing 74 this year, and he still has it. I would have liked to have seen more of him, and for him to get some memorable lines, but such is life. I have never been a big fan of Owen Wilson; I don't find him charming or funny, and to be honest, his nose is distracting. But he was as tolerable as possible in this one. I like Paul Rudd in everything (I guess even in Dinner for Schmucks) for no apparent reason, and Reese is such a cutie. A special shout-out to Kathryn Hahn as Annie the assisstant, she is just wonderful, and deserves to be in more movies.

I was a little disappointed with how the legal stuff Paul Rudd's character is involved in gets resolved at the end. There are some major implications for his decision, and it's just taken kind of lightly. I understand that the movie makers probably didn't want to bog the movie down with what was going to happen to Jack afterwards, but it seems like just a cop-out, and that the legal problems were just a vessel to push the storyline along, and not a real problem they ever cared to resolve.

A refreshingly different take on the romantic comedy.

Dinner for Schmucks

Awful, just awful. Steve Carell's Barry must be the most ridiculous movie character ever. No one could tolerate his idiocy that long. A synopsis says "An extraordinarily stupid man possesses the ability to ruin the life of anyone who spends more than a few minutes in his company." Well it's Paul Rudd's fault for letting this completely oblivious man ruin his life! ps. the word "schmuck" is never even used in this movie, they call them idiots.

The ending is mildly heart-warming and the mice are cute, but is it worth sitting through the whole thing? Probably not.

Mostly stupid.

Winter's Bone

I don't really know where to start with this one, it was both foreign and authentic to me at the same time. It is foreign in that these people are so backwards to what we are most familiar with; they thrive on crime and poverty and intimidation and half-truths, I kept thinking to myself: "Who are these people? Where would you find them in the real world?". But it is also authentic because these people are all so human, set in front of a vast and chilling landscape.

In the middle of it all is Ree Dolly played by Jennifer Lawrence in her Oscar nominated breakout. Ree is an unlikely hero, though I'm sure she wouldn't consider herself one. Her father has a court date for cooking meth (again) and if he doesn't show, her family will lose the house because he put it up as bond. With two younger siblings and a mentally ill mother, Ree makes it her mission to find her father, dead or alive; and she does so with dignity and determination. How did she get this way? (certainly not from her parents) and I guess that's what makes this a good story, she doesn't give up, even though everyone tells her to. She doesn't get down on herself or her circumstances, she doesn't give in to all the drugs and crime around her.

The movie was slow at times for me, and it seemed like there was little to the actual plot - It was the characters that made this one; the caring neighbour, the cautious uncle, the fun-loving siblings, the sketchy town's people, the admirable Ree. It felt like I was watching some one's life, the acting is subtle and doesn't feel like actors acting, the flow is natural and nothing is forced, but that doesn't make the story any more interesting to me, it went at it's own pace and you hope the payoff will be something more dramatic, but it just is what it is. It seems like I must be missing something - it got such amazing reviews, and I thought it was just ok.

Strong characters and the on-location setting make this one worth while, but don't expect much action.

Devil

When I was younger I loved scary movies, if you asked me what my favourite movie was The Silence of the Lambs would have been up there. These days scary movies are nothing but cheap shots; ominous music followed by something jumping out at you. The Silence of the Lambs was smart and thrilling, it pushed boundaries in a human way. Hannibal Lector and Buffalo Bill could be real people, horror villains these days are superhuman, appearing miles ahead and super strong. Pardon my French, but it's just stupid bullshit these days. If I feel like watching a scary movie it's not because I want shit to jump out at me and for the violins to be a screeching to let me know that something scary is about to happen. So as to not all be negative, I will point out that the first SAW movie broke the silly scary movie mould, it was different, it was smart and interesting and complex. Devil tries to step away from the ridiculous that has become common in scary movies and delivers a film that keeps you in suspense, but also keeps you thinking.

No one special stars in this movie, so I can't start with that. This movie is about five strangers stuck in an elevator... oh, and one of them is the devil! I don't want to ruin this one for you because the whole fun of this movie is not knowing who it is. This one was written (but not directed) by M. Night Shyamalan, and I don't care how crappy you thought Lady in the Water or The Happening was, I LOVED The Village, and you can't take that away regardless of the bombs he's been putting out as of late.

The music was, in fact, ominous, and it was raining, and people did some obviously stupid things that got them killed. But I still liked this movie, as I said before, it was the not knowing, the always guessing and second-guessing who the bad guy could be. I liked that this movie called it like it is; the devil, not a demon or evil spirit, but that son-of-a-bitch that gives God a hard time. The movie recognizes that not everyone believes, there is the necessary sceptic to counter balance the overly religious security guard who knows what's going down early on. The character stories were interesting, and the five people in an elevator for an hour and a half wasn't as monotonous as I thought it might be.

With that being said I wish it was longer, at 83 minutes, we don't get as much back info as I would have liked. There is also something to be said about redemption in this movie that isn't fully explored.

If you're in the mood for a newer scary one, you could do much worse than Devil.

Casino Jack

Prior to watching that train movie "Unstoppable" with Denzel, I assumed that "inspired by true events" was about the same as "based on a true story". Well, the only similarity Unstoppable had with actual events was that a train went rogue. So when Casino Jack started with "inspired by true events" you know I just had to look it up afterwards and see how similar the movie was to what actually happened. And now I don't know what to think "inspired" means because this movie was pretty darn close, if not uncomforatbly close to the truth. This movie kicks corruptions ass and takes names by actually calling politicians out by name. Onwards!

Casino Jack stars Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff, a Washington superlobbyist with friends in high places. I pride myself on being a fairly intelligible person, but the business of politics has always confused me. For the longest time what I thought lobbyists were was about the exact opposite of the truth. So now I am a little older and wiser about lobbyists, but their dealings still confuse me. This movie does a good job trying to dumb it down enough so we can all understand the complexities of Abramoff's dealings. With that being said, I was still confused what their motives were at times, and why they were doing what they were doing, but it wasn't anything I couldn't figure out in the end.

I don't want to call this movie a comedy, but it was funny, in a "I can't believe they are doing this (and think they can get away with it)" way, accentuated even more so by the fact that they did actually do it in real life. Good on the director for boldly tackling the issue of lobbyists and corruption in the American government.

The actors were all playing to their strengths in this one (I guess people are type-casted for a reason) Kevin Spacey was smart and smooth, with just the right amount of hubris. Barry Pepper was cute but not the sharpest tool. Jon Lovitz was sleazy but lovable. And the wonderful Graham Greene was a stoic temple of reason.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

p.s. You know what really grinds my gears? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Indians are people from India and people that were the original inhabitants of a land are called Aboriginals or Natives. How long is it going to take for this to catch on?! This movie takes place in the 2000's and they call then Indians through out the whole thing. I hope this is more an American thing.

TRON: Legacy

I watched this with my Dad on Sunday, and it has been such a long time since we watched a movie together, just that fact was really nice. The movie itself wasn't bad either. I really liked how The Grid was stylized and the neon red/blue on black look of everything. (My Dad noted that The Grid in this movie was "less tacky" than the 1982 original). The two games Sam has to play when he first enters The Grid were really cool, I am sure there is a computer game version of that motorcycle one and I need to find it. With all the good things about the special effects and digitized-ness of it all, the one downer was I am 99% sure that young Jeff Bridges and Clu (who is a computer program based on Jeff Bridges 20 years ago) was a computer graphic, the face was strange and looked like something out of Final Fantasy. Granted, computer graphics have come a long way and can look pretty life-like, I can still tell the difference and it was distracting, like the movie makers were trying to trick me.

I would say that 30% of the movie was back story, 50% was action, and 20% was new plot information. As someone who had never seen the original TRON, I appreciated all the back info and even found it really interesting. Despite this, I still found myself confused at times, but it was nothing that I couldn't guess or assume or found out later. The action was good too, I'm all for a good jet fighting scene or running away from the bad-guy scene. However, I'm not going to lie, I did start to doze off towards the end and had to rewatch the last 10 minutes, I think it had something to do with the monotony of the action. I also find that action movies can be subject to cheese, I guess it's just a product of circumstances. This movie did have its share of cheesy lines ("but I would give it all up for just one more day with you" etc.) I just snickered and moved on, the cheese was mostly forgivable, except the ending, that was pretty cheesy.

As someone who had seen the original, my Dad's first impression after watching the movie was that "there was no plot". After he mentioned this I could totally understand that - the story is: the kid goes looking for his dad, finds him, and tries to get him back home, that's. about. it. Of course it was jazzed up with awesome special effects and I was too busy trying to figure out the back story that I didn't immediately notice the lack of the right-now story, which is probably what Disney was hoping for.

Solid performances from Jeff Bridges, cutie Garrett Hedlund, and hottie Olivia Wilde. I am also a fan of James Frain from The Tudors and True Blood, so it was nice to see him in this strange role.

A virtual action/adventure for the whole family!

You Again

I know, I know, another comedy, but it was the only movie on my computer that I hadn't seen and it came highly recommended by my mother and sister.

I love Victor Garber, I love Kristen Bell, I love Betty White, I love Kristen Chenoweth. I like Jamie Lee Curtis, I like Sigourney Weaver. So that's a pretty good start, right? Well this movie was mostly annoying and at other times awkward. Sure it had its moments, and it's a cute comedy, but it won't be winning any sort of awards any time soon. I find something humourous about how catty women can be to each other, so that part was funny too. And as much as I like "Toxic" by Britney Spears, nothing was going to make that dance lesson more funny and any less awkward.

The thing is, my sister is 9, and my mom works hard, so I can see how the lightheartedness and goofiness would appeal to them, and this sort of movie has its place in my movie library too... but ya know, maybe I need some more dramas before I can fully embrace a silly comedy again. I feel so jaded.

The Next Three Days

One of the most important things I learned while doing my undergrad in history was to consider the bias of the author. Every nonfiction book has an author, even text books. And those authors bring various prejudices, stereotypes, and biases to the table regardless of how authoritative the text may seem. With that being said I must admit my own personal biases with this film. The last few movies I've watched were comedies and I am not sure if I enjoyed The Next Three Days so much because it is intrinsically a wonderful film, or because I was just happy for an action/drama. Onward!

Up until half way through this movie I thought it was ah-ma-zing. Maybe because the first half was the drama part and the second half was the action part, if I can generalize. I loved the family dynamic and individual personalities of John (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Elizabeth Banks) I loved where the plot was going - until John decides that he is going to get Lara out of jail not through the supreme court, but by bustin' her outta there. I figured I'd go with it, it was not the direction I was hoping the movie would go, but I can roll with it, it could happen. Russell Crowe could totally pull this off in real life, right? (ok so it was believable up until then)

Part of what I liked about this movie is also the reason I was frustrated with it. What I liked was that there were enough missteps and curves that at times I legitimately thought that the movie might not end with a conventional happily ever after. I liked how it kept me guessing and in suspense (again maybe just because none of the movies I've watched lately had much suspense). And I don't want to ruin this one for anybody, because I did like watching this movie and I hope you will too but... I'll just say the ending is formulaic, and not the curve I was hoping it might be.

My verdict:

A solid drama/action. (Sorry that's all I've got for this one)

On an unrelated note, someone alerted me (thank you) to the fact that people without certain email accounts were unable to comment on my posts. I have rectified the situation and you can now comment as "anonymous" hopefully this will result in a flood of comments, though I won't take it personally if it doesn't.

Thanks, Vikki

The Switch

I did not have high expectations for this one. The premise of this movie sounded really silly, whoops! I switched the donor sperm with mine! ...That's kind of a serious thing - there might be laws against that. And the fact that this movie was taking it lightly wasn't my kind of funny. Plus I am not too fussy on Jennifer Aniston, I know I should be if for no other reason than she got the really short end of the stick with the Brad Pitt thing, but even before all that, she was never my favourite Friend.

You know what you are in for in this Jennifer Aniston rom-com; friend has crush on other friend, friend moves away, when she comes back it's like she never left, friend reveals secret, other friend is mad, but two scenes later she forgives him and they all lived happily ever after. The first half hour was barely bare able, it just felt like they were trying to cram in as much back info and character info as possible, and if any of it happens to be funny then bonus. But once that kid came into the picture everything changed, he was just so darn cute and his neurosis was hilarious. The chemistry between him and Jason Bateman was wonderful (the same can't be said for the chemistry between Bateman and Aniston, but I guess you can't have it all). And as an added bonus, Jeff Goldblum was in this one, and much more witty than he was in Morning Glory. Also note the love interest in this film was the same as the one in Morning Glory, I had never heard of him before. I looked it up, his name is Patrick Wilson, he hasn't been in much else special.

So a comedy I didn't expect much out of had a little ray of sunshine that made it mostly worth it.

Watch it for the hilarity of the kid if for nothing else.

Ch-ch-check it out!

You may or may not have noticed that in between this post and my title is a bar that says "Home" and "Movies that will make you...". Home will bring you back here, but you are already here, so don't worry about it. But you may be surprised to find that the other button has some golden nuggets of movie reviews as well. Check it out! This is also a good spot to recommend movies to me and the other two people that are reading this blog!

Vikki

Gulliver's Travels

I haven't read the original Gulliver's Travels, and I assume the eight-year-olds that this movie is aimed at haven't either so I will have little to say regarding the source material and how true this film may or may not be to it. If I had read Gulliver's Travels, however, I probably would just have more negative things to say about this movie, because unfortunately this is one of those movies where all the funny parts are in the trailer for it.

Starring Jack Black as Lemuel Gulliver. On his way to the Bermuda Triangle after an attempt to ask out his crush (Amanda Peet) ends up badly, Gulliver ends up on the Island of Lilliput which is inhabited by tiny people of varying accents. Jason Segal plays Horatio, a tiny friend he meets, and Emily Blunt as the Princess and Horatio`s love interest. This movie isn't even cute, it's just silly. Sure I laughed out loud when the little people reenacted scenes from Titanic and Star Wars, but not so much when he tries to give Horatio dating advice or ends up banished to some island of giants. The movie ends with a random song and dance to the old Motown hit "War" by Edwin Starr, but it's just an obvious attempt to fit in some Jack Black singing and dancing because we know he can't go a movie without doing that. Don't get me wrong, I generally think Jack Black is hilarious, but this movie tried too hard and didn't work for me. I think children will enjoy it, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it was marketed as a fun for the whole family movie, and I don't think that adults will enjoy sitting through this as much as, say, Despicable Me.

Some little rays of sunshine are the performances by Emily Blunt and Billy Connolly.

Go do something else while the kids watch this one.

127 Hours

Two things I knew about this film before I watched it was that it was based on a true story and he had to cut his arm off (very graphically) in order to survive (sorry if I ruined that for anyone, but I figure if you know anything about the movie, that is what you know, so hopefully I am not ruining it for many people.) I had no desire to watch this movie for the longest time because of the later tidbit of information and because I am not too fussy on James Franco's "quirkiness" in real life, and he was such a turd at the Oscars. So I watched it because it was available to me, and because I like Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire, and was in a "willing to give it a chance" mood. And let me tell you, going into a movie with little expectation is probably the best way. This movie was everything I didn't know I wanted it to be. The music was absolutely perfect, the lighting and cinematography was unique and created an atmosphere of lightheartedness or confusion or what ever the occasion needed. It was easy to forget James Franco's real life crazy because he is such a fun-loving adventurer of a guy that is easy to like.

I very much enjoyed the tone of this film, I can imagine for many people to be stuck in a canyon for five days the atmosphere could turn very dark and sad, I know that I would be having a "why me?" pity party. But Aron Rolston understands why it is him - "I chose this". In a moment of delirious epiphany Aron realizes that every decision he has made in his life has brought him to this point - he decided to go it alone, to recklessly explore the canyons, and to feel invincible enough to not tell anybody where he was going, oops. From the very beginning he accepts that this is his fault, and it is his challenge to get himself out of it. He deals with it mostly positively and in good humor, and that makes his moments of despair all the more heart-breaking.

In what could have been a very boring movie, director Danny Boyle keeps us interested, in flashbacks and videos made with his camcorder while in the canyon, the film is a perfect balance of adventure, survival, and the human spirit. At the end when he has removed himself from the rock he looks at it as if to say "Fuck you rock" but instead just says "thank you". Is it cheesy for me to think that he's thanking the rock for helping him appreciate life? Maybe, but I'm sticking with it.

Go on this adventure.

Morning Glory

This comedy stars Rachel McAdams as a young go-getter who nabbed a job executive producing a morning news show on a national tv station. Diane Keaton is the morning show's host, and Harrison Ford is the grumpy co-anchor who is forced on the show and thinks it's beneath him to do the morning news.

I have a soft spot for Rachel McAdams because she is Canadian and comes across as so down-to-earth, in my head we could totally be besties. Her character in this movie is what you want her to be, strong, well-spoken when need be, but quirky and likeable. Diane Keaton is her usual wonderful self, but it doesn't feel like she has been used to her potential in this film, I love her cackle of a laugh and could stand to hear it more in this one. Harrison Ford is no Indy in this one, he is grumpy and doesn't crack as easily as I would have hoped, but when it does happen it is done well. And is his voice really that gruff? It's been awhile since I've seen him in anything, and the gruffness of his voice was distracting.

All in all I really enjoyed this movie, it was cute, not hilarious, but funny enough. There was enough romance to fill the love-interest storyline, but not enough to call it a "romantic comedy" which I am ok with. I like the behind the camera take on television, it was interesting to see what executive producers do. I am rarely up early enough for morning television, and when I am I choose to do or watch something else, because it can be as silly as the movie suggests. But I thought the exploration of a sinking morning show was clever and the storyline kept me interested; even though I knew everything would be ok in the end, I still enthusiastically rooted in the characters. And I think I have had a crush on Jeff Goldblum since Jurassic Park, so it was nice to see him. (On an unrelated note, I looked him up to make sure I spelled his last name right and discovered that he is 60 next year and his middle name is Lynn... interesting.)

There isn't a whole lot in this movie for the guys except Rachel in her panties and maybe Harrison Ford. With that said,

A cute girl's night comedy, that's not too girly.

Despicable Me

While I am talking about cartoons with Tangled, I am going to continue on with Despicable Me (fear not the next one will be a live action, probably either TRON or Morning Glory, stay posted).

I don't think it's any secret that I am a fan of cartoons, part of it is probably my inner child etc, and the other part is probably just wanting to watch a simple, easy to follow movie that doesn't leave unanswered questions (cough* Dogtooth). Despicable Me is the best animated film I have seen in my adult life, simply put, it's frickin hilarious. Furthermore, all of the characters are lovable, even Vector and Miss Hattie. Gru is adorable, even though I buy that he is a legitimate villain with no aspirations of being the hero, he's just so darn nonchalant when freeze-raying those in line at Starbucks, how can you not like someone like that? I also enjoyed how the relationship between Gru and the girls is developed slowly - he doesn't automatically fall for their charms, and even when he does, he still holds back by not giving them a good night kiss after reading them a bedtime story.

I did take issue with how easily he allowed the girls go back to the orphanage, I understand that this part of the story is necessary so that he can go back to them, but he didn't fight for them at all!

I know I haven't really been successful thus far in articulating why exactly this movie is so amazing. Everything just works; the relationships between the characters are how you would want them to be. I love how subtly Gru's mom approves of him as a father at the end, I love how Gru addresses his minions (how's it going Larry?), I love how even the youngest girl Edith is so observant (He's nice. He's scary. Like Santa) and I love how outrageous this movie can be and how well-written it is. If you have not yet been fully convinced to go see this movie, I have looked up some hilarious quotes from it to convince you:

Agnes: Pretty please?
Gru: The physical appearance of the please makes no difference.

Edith: When we got adopted by a bald guy, I thought this'd be more like Annie.

Edith: Are these beds made from bombs?
Gru: Yes, but they are very old and are not likely to explode. But don't toss and turn.

Young Gru: Mom, someday, I'm going to go to the moon.
Gru's Mom: I'm afraid you're too late, son. NASA isn't sending the monkeys anymore.

 

Gru: Your dog has been leaving bombs in my yard.
Fred McDade: Oh you know dogs... they go where they want!
Gru: Not if they're dead.

 

The verdict:

 

I don't care how old you are, this movie will make you laugh and smile.

 

Tangled

So I had some subtitle issues with my (highly legal) copy of Ip Man, so while I get that sorted out, here'sTangled (it's that animated Disney one about Rapunzel).

There is just something so comforting about an animated Disney movie. I grew up on The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin etc. and even watching one now makes me feel like I'm home. The songs are never quite as catchy as when I was a child (but that might have something to do with the fact that I don't watch them on repeat long enough for the songs to be ingrained into my subconscious) but they are still good. I like that there is always a certain darkness in a Disney cartoon, I remember being scarred for years after first watching The Little Mermaid. The part where Ursala is electrocuted by the King's trident and you can see her skeleton made me shelve that movie until I was old enough and brave enough to try again. Thank goodness I did because it became one of my favourites. This movie had traces of that same darkness and I liked it.

I also always like how there is an over arching message in animated Disneys. I like to think this one is "Don't let what you're afraid of stop you from living your life". Another thing I used to appreciate about Disney cartoons was how the characters were all voiced by unknowns, however in recent years Disney has jumped on the bandwagon of getting famous people to do the voice overs. In this case Rapunzel is voiced by Mandy Moore, who I am a fan of. But I find it distracting because I find myself listening to the tone of the voice for hints of Mandy rather than just enjoying what is being said. Oh, and as always, the personified animal characters (in this case a horse and a chameleon) were super cute.

So, overall, another hit by Disney. I have trouble saying "classic" because in my mind the classics were the ones I grew up with, and I am not ready to add this movie to that list yet. I guess I will have to wait until I have children and see what they think, because I am too biased in this department.

I looked up a list of animated Disney films and I draw the line for "classics" firmly at Tarzan in 1999. I thought about extending it to Lilo and Stitch (which would then include Atlantis and The Emperor's New Groove, which we can all agree are great movies) but I don't know if I would go so far to call those classics either. Where do you draw the line when considering an animated Disney a "classic"?

My verdict:

Come on, it's a Disney animated feature film, when was the last time one of those was a stinker?!

Sex and the City 2

In a few short moments I will be putting on Sex and the City 2 on my laptop and letting it's silly story line sing me to sleep. I have already seen this one, but next on my list of movies to watch is Ip Man, and I'm just not in the mood for subtitles this late at night.

Based on what I remember from when I watched it the first time, you get what you expect in this movie. I must say though, that I applaud the writers for the courage to decide that kids are just not in the carsd for Big and Carrie. In a society where you get funny looks when you're a woman and you don't want kids, brava to them for going there and sticking with it. Sex and the City for me as an adult is like what the show "Ready or Not" was for me as a tween. It's tackling issues about growing up and being a women. I especially appreciate the topics addressed in this movie like how hard it can be being a mother, insecurity in a marriage, finding happiness at your workplace, fighting aging, and being a strong woman. Ya, there's the silly, sexy, and silly sexy stuff, but that's all part of the fun.

Anyways, the sneaky point of this post was for you (and me) to get excited about Ip Man, it came highly recommended by my Dad, and while perusing Ebert's website, I discovered that a sequel just came out, like this week! So, some giggles with SATC tonight to prepare me for a Japanese-subtitled-thinker tomorrow.

Hereafter

Starring Matt Damon and directed by Clint Eastwood, Hereafter tells the story of three people and their experiences with death. Matt Damon plays an honest-to-goodness legitimate psychic who doesn't like doing readings anymore because of the emotional toll it causes and how it affects his ability to lead a normal life. Second, pre-teen Marcus losses his twin brother Jason, and shuts himself off from the world. And lastly, Marie almost dies (well I guess she technically does for a moment or two) when a tsunami hits Thailand (yes, that tsunami) and afterwards tries to figure out what the vision she had means.

The scenes with the tsunami are amazing, it doesn't feel so much like special effects and it really helped me understand how so many people could have died during the event - it makes it realistic and dangerous. I also really like the chemistry between Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard, the scenes between them are playful and flirty and when it turns serious I'm still buying it.

On the downside, the fact that the movie shifts between the three main characters, by the end of it, it doesn't seem like we have learned enough about any of them. Also, when Matt Damon does a "reading" it can be a little silly, like when he's talking to the dead, and whoops, he's gone, now he's back again and has more to say. I can understand that only hearing one side of a conversation with a dead person is hard to pull off, and darn it Matt Damon tries, but it just comes off as mostly silly. We've been waiting with Matt Damon to reconnect Marcus with his brother for like the whole movie, and how it was done was kind of a let down. Additionally, in the end Matt Damon ends up with Marie, who saw that coming? Was he even over Bryce yet? It was kind of random, and we didn't get enough notice to buy into this relationship and really believe it because shortly thereafter the movie just ends!

The verdict:

The makings of a good movie, just hold the extra cheese please.

Dogtooth

You may not have heard of this movie, however, it was nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscar's this year. I had seen a blurb about this film in a movie magazine or something a few months ago and thought the premise was interesting. I came across it later while perusing Roger Ebert's site for movies to watch, this one received 3/4 stars.

This movie came out about the same time as Jaycee Dugard was discovered. For those who don't know the story, Jaycee was kidnapped from her neighbourhood when she was maybe 8 or 9 and forced to live in this couple's backyard, until 18 years later someone figured out what was going on and called the police. She gave birth to two daughters by her captor in the time she was there. This film is kind of in the same vein as what happened to Jaycee. It tells the story of a family, a mother, father, two daughters and a son, all children are young adults or at least teenagers. The parents keep their children at home, and tell them lies about the outside world. They invent meanings for words they will never know about, for example, "the sea" refers to a chair. For surely these children will never know what an actual sea is.

Similar to the story about Jaycee, we are fascinated by people in extraordinary circumstances. We know that this sort of thing happens in the real world, but when we see it in a movie, at least for me, I want to look away. There are some graphic sex scenes and it makes me uncomfortable, and I am embarrassed by the fact that I am embarrassed (though that might be more of my Catholic upbringing about sex being shameful that I couldn't fully appreciate what the film is trying to say about perversity and focus more on the fact that I can't believe I just saw a flash of penis). I watched an episode of Oprah a couple weeks ago that was about twin girls who were raped by their two brothers and father for many years - this weird shit really happens in the world, and this movie makes us face this reality and be confused and outraged by it.

The film is Greek, and there are subtitles. I think some is lost in this fact because as someone says something and the subtitles tell me it with an exclamation point, what is being said does not sound to me like an exclamation, and I am disappointed that I can't fully appreciate these nuances. The cinematography is beautiful, the lighting is well done and the camera angles are interesting. At times I thought I had a bum (highly legal) copy because at times the heads are cut off, but this is intentional and even effective, for these children do not have names, so it would make sense they might not have faces. These children could be anyone, they could be living down the road and we wouldn't even know about it.

I do wish this movie gave me more answers though. Similar to Never Let Me Go, I sometimes like for things to be spelled out for me. I was constantly thinking "why is this happening?" "why are they doing this/ acting like this?" "what happens next?" and none of my questions are ever fully answered, sure it makes the film more mysterious and open to your interpretation etc etc, but would it be so hard for the parents to just explain themselves to the audience and for me to find out what fricken happens after the ending?!

My advice:

Take a deep breath and get ready to think about our world.

The Fighter

With Oscars for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, I wanted to watch this movie for the opposite reason as that for Due Date and The Tourist, and let me tell you, it was so nice to watch a good movie that took so much care in developing the characters.

The Prestige is one of my favourite movies, and is the reason I can forgive all of Christian Bale's crazy and just appreciate his acting. The Oscar was well deserved for his role as the washed-out, drugged-out older brother to Mark Wahlberg. Something also has to be said for Christian Bale's physical transformation, he lost a lot of weight for this part and it just makes his character all the more believable.

Another thing this movie has going for it is the fact that it is based on a true story. True stories automatically get bonus points for me, and I love endings that have the written follow up about what happens after for the people whom the movie is based on. On a related note, I really like movies that take place in the '90's for some reason, I guess because my earliest memories are of the '90's and it is nice to see all the fashion, cars, and buildings that feel so nineties. So this movie has that going for it too.

Melissa Leo won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the mother in The Fighter, and I can't say that she did a whole lot to earn it. If you are going to win an Oscar for a small role, it should have an impact. I automatically think back to Monique's win for Precious, now that is how you win an Oscar, Melissa Leo on the other hand, was just ok, she didn't wow me with her performance, maybe the pickings were slim. I do remember that another nominee in the category was Amy Adams, also for The Fighter, I would say her performance was comparable, good, but nothing special. It was nice to see her a little dirtier than we are used to (you may remember Amy Adams as the lead in Enchanted).

And this is how I like my Marky Mark. If you read my review on The Other Guys you may remember that I was less than impressed. In this movie though he makes me care about his character, he makes me try to understand why he does what he does, and this can be said for all the characters, they do what they do for a reason, not for jokes or to move the plot along, but because they are real people in real situations. I couldn't help but feel that Christian Bale was more of a lead than Mark though, he certainly had the stronger personality and left a bigger impression. The struggle between his family and what is best for him is a conflict that Mark's Micky deals with quietly, with some (ok a lot) of backup from his girlfriend (Adams) I sometimes wish he would speak up for himself, but when a movie is based on true events, I find it's better for the filmmakers to tell the story how it is, and not how the audience might wish it to be.

The acting is top notch and the family dynamic is a flawless combination.

The verdict:

A perfect change of pace to those silly comedies and action movies, you can't go wrong with The Fighter.

Due Date

Like The Tourist, I wanted to watch this one because everything I heard about it was bad. I love me some RDJ and Zach Galifianakis is the new funny guy on the scene, so it can't be THAT bad, right? Well at some points it really is that bad. I keep thinking that Zach Galifiankis is like Jonah Hill, but he isn't. He's more grimy and strange, and his roles are more outrageous, which in this case being more outrageous did not amount to being funnier.

Granted, there were some laugh out loud moments, but they were few and far between and it takes a lot of stupid moments to get to the actual funny ones. Most of the jokes seem like they are trying too hard and don't always fit. For example, it's okay for Zach Galifianakis to masturbate, but he reprimands his dog when it does the same thing? Sure, a masturbating dog sounds cute and hilarious, but it's weird and uncomfortable instead and the way it is dealt with doesn't really make sense. And I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to dirty jokes, masturbation jokes can be funny, but it just doesn't work here. Furthermore, it seems as though the characters are compromising character development for jokes. It's hard to tell if Robert Downey Jr. is a nice guy or an angry guy, he's whatever the occasion calls for. And how quickly the relationship changes from hate to best buddies happens too suddenly and unbelievably. And I think that is the biggest problem with this movie - the storyline is unbelievable. Zach tells RDJ that he cut the umbilical cord on his new baby, and after only a moment's hesitation, RDJ is ok with that! I would be flipping out. Maybe that's just me, but things are just off in this movie - it expects us to buy into the story and characters without giving us much to go on except stupid jokes. RDJ and Zach are probably doing the best they can with what they were given, and the movie isn't a total loss, it does have some moments, and RDJ is delicious in every thing he does.

On the other hand, perhaps I'm just not the demographic for this movie, because I could certainly see my younger brother laughing at some of this stuff. Therefor, I give this movie:

Maybe you have to be a 18-35 Male to really appreciate it.

The Tourist

I knew about all the bad reviews, nothing specific, just that it's bad. I guess that's partly why I wanted to see it. The other reason was not Johnny Depp, but Angelina Jolie. I am comfortable in my sexuality to admit that she is one good-looking woman and I like to look at her. I never really got how Johnny was/is the sexiest man alive (probably multiple times) I just never thought he was all that. I can see how he is charming in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, but he was none of that in this movie; not funny, witty, charming, just one dimensional and cliched. And that is probably the best word for this movie - a big cliche. I still have about 10 minutes left while I write this, and I highly doubt that anything is going to happen that I couldn't predict. The storyline was simple, there was nothing complicated about the story or characters. The action wasn't spectacular, and the music was cheesy, almost Disney-like. With all that being said, it was watchable, the delicious Rufus Sewell had a small part, it's always nice to see him. It was nothing special, I wouldn't even go so far to say it was "cute". Johnny and Angelina could do better but I am not angry that I will never get that 90 minutes back.

Verdict:
Watch it if you have nothing better to do and are on team Angelina.

The Other Guys

Well, I had a fantastic weekend. My guy and I took a spur of the moment trip to Sudbury to visit my family, catch a couple Wolves games, and try this new Japanese restaurant my Aunt was raving about. My Aunts had rented The Other Guys and we all sat together Saturday night to watch it.

It was about what you would expect of a buddy cop movie. Will Farrell was better than he has been in his last few movies (Kicking and Screaming, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers etc. less funny, more stupid). But Marky Mark was not as funny as I would have hoped. His irrational anger was silly, but not funny. The real icing though was Eva Mendes. The scenes with her, Will, and Marky were among the most funny. The crime the boys are trying to solve is complicated enough to be interesting and the original Batman, Mr. Michael Keaton, was a little ray of sunshine.

This movie gets a:

The Best Will Farrell Movie Since Elf (but more buddy cop and less Buddy the elf)