Just Go With It

So in "Just Go With It" Adam Sandler pretends to be in bad marriages to land sympathetic chicks. But his plan backfires when he he finds "the one" and recruits his single mother assisstant Jennifer Aniston and her two kids to be his family. Even as I tried to figure out an easy why to explain the plot I knew it sounded confusing/stupid/unbelievable. And in large part, the plot is all of these things. First of all, what kind of women would have a one nighter with a married man just because his marriage is bad. Second, Palmer (the one) can't be so stupid to believe all of this. And thirdly, the title isn't just for Jennifer Aniston and her kids, but for the audience as well, because we do have to "just go with it" in order to get through this crazy story.

With that said, I kind of liked it. Adam Sandler is no where near as funny as he used to be, but this movie was funny enough, I actually liked Jennifer Aniston in it, the kids were really funny, and Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews' storyline was an unnecessary but welcome addition. My biggest problem with this movie wasn't the unbelievable story line, but the unbelievable chemistry between Adam Sandler and Palmer. If you hadn't guessed he ends up with Aniston, it becomes glaringly obvious as soon as we are asked to believe that Palmer is "the one".

Suspend belief in reality for awhile and have a few couple laughs.

Bridesmaids

I had heard the positive reviews about this one, but was not overly eager to spend money to see it because in my weird mind it reminded me of The Hangover, and The Hangover reminds me of The Hangover II and The Hangover II makes me think that Hollywood thinks I'm stupid and is trying to rob me because all the previews I've seen seem to be exactly like the first Hangover only in Thailand, and I hate being robbed. Anyways, Bridesmaids did have some Hangover-esque moments but it was really good, and I was happy that we spent my guy's Scene points to see it. I was surprised that he suggested this movie because it is about a wedding, and well, that's kind of a sore spot with us (because my life should be about a wedding...) anyways, there was really only one part that he was reminded about the shiny-ring pressure he is under and was otherwise able to thoroughly enjoy the movie. So men with women who want more commitment, fear not! You can watch this movie and laugh and laugh without really feeling the guilt of "why won't you marry me?"

Starring SNL alums Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolf, Bridesmaids is about a down and out maid of honour trying to live up to MOH expectations and figure out her own life. I was a little worried when the movie started with an awkward sex scene, but it improved exponentially from there. There is an absolutely hilarious scene when the girls get food poisoning, I haven't laughed that hard in a movie since Jonah Hill talked about tucking his penis into his waistband in Superbad. Kristin Wiig is her usual charming and awkward self, Maya Rudolf wasn't really used to her comedic potential, but she did have the funniest moment in the movie when she runs into the street. When I saw the previews I was a little worried about Melissa McCarthy's character - that she would just be the disgusting fat girl, but she was really hilarious and her character had the most heart out of all of them. The previously unknown to me, Rose Byrne as Helen is a formidable foe to Kristin Wiig but I would have liked to see more from the other two bridesmaids, Rita and Becca. But maybe that is what sequels are for. 

I kept hearing about how this movie proves that girls can be funny too, well heck, of course they are! I don't know why it didn't happen sooner, but hopefully this all-woman ensemble will encourage more of the same (but different).

Red Dragon

So this movie was on TV last week, but I didn't feel like staying up as late as it was on. Luckily I own the movie and actually went and found it and watched it the other day. I've seen this movie a couple times before, but not recently, so it was kind of like new again.
When this movie came out in 2002 it was like they released it for me or something. You know when things happen and it's just too much of a coincidence to just be a coincidence? This movie coming out was one of those moments for me. I was in grade 12 and was reading all of Thomas Harris' books (who wrote The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, etc.) It started with The Silence of the Lambs because that was the one I was most familiar with (I didn't know about Red Dragon until later). While I was reading Red Dragon I discovered the movie adaptation was coming out a few weeks later, and not only that, but Edward Norton (who I was in love with at the time) was playing the main character. What are the chances, right?!

Anyways, on this viewing I kind of realized how this blog is ruining movies for me. That might be a little extreme, but I am watching movies more critically now and I am noticing cheesey and overly dramatic moments more easily. This movie did fall victim to some scary movie staples such as turning the lights on and there is blood all over the place and the violins are just screaming to make things scarier. But aside from those few moments that made me snicker, the movie is really low in the "don't do that" moments, like when the character runs the wrong way or goes into the scary building at night etc. This is a really smart movie, as all of the Lector movies are ("Hannibal" less so but I won't go there) The characters are interesting and complex and it's more of an in your head scary than a jumping out at you scary.

The cast in the movie is just perfect. Anthony Hopkins is at the top of his game and a scene at the beginning between him and Edward Norton is really well done. The chemistry between Graham (Norton) and Lector is not as interesting and dynamic as with Jodi Foster, but definitely satisfying. Solid and believable performances by Emily Watson and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Harvey Keitel fills the necessary role of Crawford. But it is Ralph Fiennes that steals the show. He is scary and confusing and you even pity him at some points. Fiennes is so fascinating, even in the rom-com "Maid in Manhatten" there is just something about him, plus he has some mad acting chops, he's just amazing in Schindler's List. (I would talk about how amazing he was in The English Patient, but I haven't seen it - don't judge me)

Red Dragon brings the Lector franchise back to The Silence of the Lambs form after a dissapointing Hannibal. A good scary movie to watch during one of the many rainy evenings we've been having.

Sidenote: This story was already told in movie form, 1986's "Manhunter", I actually have this movie, but just haven't watched the whole thing, I vote for watching Red Dragon. Also, Ebert wrote a nice review on Red Dragon, read it here: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021004/REVIEWS/210040302/1023

Hop

I watched this one at the theatre a few weeks ago with my mom and sister and kept forgetting to review it, I'll remember as much as I can.
I was really excited to see this one. It was by the same people as Despicable Me, and you should know how much I adore that movie. I have also warmed up to Russell Brand and was looking forward to more of his charm via voice-over. James Marsden is delicious and I could stare at those baby blues for days. But as nice as it was to go to the movies with my mom and sister (which now that I think about it, may have never happened before) the movie was just alright.

I liked how this movie tackled the logistics of Easter, a much less explored holiday than Christmas, and much more difficult to explain to kids. This movie addresses how the Easter bunny can pull off hiding all those eggs in a night. So when my future kids ask, I will be able to direct them to this movie. There were some aspects that I thought could have been more creatively imagined like the Easter Bunny's workshop is on Easter Island - clever or lazy? And the Easter Bunny drives a chick-led sleigh? Sounds a little like Santa to me. But hey, at least they are giving some sort of explanation. (Side note: I am trying my darndest to avoid a rant about how random Easter is and how the heck bunnies and chicks relate to Jesus and his death and Resurrection, this post is about Hop after all...)

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Hugh Laurie was the voice of the EB's dad, I have a little old man crush on him and it was a cute change of pace to see a softer side of House. The animation was brilliant and streamed seamlessly into the live action parts. But overall, the movie was just alright though, it was one of those movies where most of the funny parts were in the commercials. Russell Brand's EB wasn't really that likeable, and the adorable/evil chick voiced by Hank Azaria didn't get enough screen time or hilarious lines. And as good-looking as I think Mr. Marsden is, he just seemed a little too old for the role. Kids will probably really like it, but I had high expectations, and it was not as funny as I had hoped.

Gnomeo and Juliet

This was a really cute movie that didn't really need the association with the original. I just found myself comparing it to the original story and how it did or did not live up the the original plot line. The ending is totally different, Gnomeo even says "I think this ending is better" which I don't know how I feel about that. I know that in Bill's story I had trouble buying that their love was so strong that they were willing to (and did) kill themselves, I'm not sure that this ending was any better or any more believable, but a different take nonetheless, and I'm sure the kiddies will appreciate the happy ending.

The music was done by Elton John, and I really like how it was woven into the story, even just the backing music was sometimes a John song and I didn't recognize it right away, so that was cool. The voice overs were well done, who ever was in charge of casting did a top notch job. A special shout out to Michael Caine as the dad and James McAvoy as Gnomeo, I'm a big fan of both. Also keep an ear out for Jim Cummings as the flamingo, I looked him up and he has quite the impressive resume, he is the voice of Pooh! (and many, many other characters) 

The Shakespeare references were plentiful and clever, and the beginning scene was also well done. The gnomey cuteness doesn't really get tired, but there have been better animated movies released in the last few years. I do appreciate that Shakespeare is being brought to a wider audience though, even if pretty much only the names are the same.

I Am Number Four

I didn't know a whole bunch about this movie before hand. Dianna Agron from Glee is in it, and that's about the reason why I wanted to see it. I figured it would be an actiony-love story, but what I didn't count on was how science fictiony it would be.

This movie is pretty big on cheese, you can tell just from the opening scene that it's going to be some sort of X-Men rip off. And that's kind of what it was, it reminded me of X-Men, Ghostbusters, a little bit of Superman too. In a word, it was campy. There were actual parts where I giggled because it was so silly - one guy dies and then dramatically closes his eyes, hair is meticulously messy, and then perfect once the bad part is over. There are corny one-liners like "I play a lot of x-box" and "I told you to stay tuned".

There was a little bit of mystery at least, you didn't know if the dog or that girl was good or bad for the majority of the movie, so that keeps you guessing. Dianna Agron was adorable and Alex Pettyfer was delicious. The special effects were reasonable and the bad guys were a strange mix of creepy and weird. All in all, don't expect a sophisticated movie, but I would probably watch the sequel that it sets itself up for at the end.

A big campy ball of cheese.

No Strings Attached

I was all prepared to watch The King's Speech a second time on my plane ride back, but to my surprise, there was a whole bunch of new movies to choose from! Do planes usually update their movies so fast? Anyways, one of the only ones I had not seen was No Strings Attached, and so it was.

Starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, No Strings Attached is pretty much what you can assume from the title: a couple in a "friends with benefits" sort of situation (though that is a totally different movie with her Black Swan frienemy Mila Kunis) and low and behold, they fall in love.

I have always been a fan of Natalie Portman, I think because she has such a strong head on her shoulders. She generally picks solid movies to be in, and the fact that she when to university is really cool. I thought Black Swan was ok, I wouldn't argue with her Oscar win, but the movie wasn't super-fantastic or anything. My mind was not as blown as I would have hoped for with that one. Anyways, No Strings Attached is obviously very different from Black Swan and I enjoyed seeing Natalie in a more light-hearted role. I liked Kutcher as Kelso in That 70's Show, but when he married Demi Moore, it kind of confused me. Not that I expect people to be like their characters, but after that 70's show and Punked, I would have not expected him to be saddled with a much older wife and step-children close to his age. You can't help who you love, but for some reason, I just found him less funny after that, like his stupid play-boy persona was a lie and he was really this mature man. I don't know if that makes sense, but he was alright in this movie, he didn't really bring anything special and could have been easily replaced by other rom-coms actors like Bradley Cooper or Ryan Reynolds.

Overall it was what you would expect. I laughed-out-loud three times on the plane while watching this movie. They were quite ones, and not belly laughs, half because I was on a plane, half because I was sick, and half because they weren't belly-laugh worthy moments. (Thirds just wouldn't sound the same) Disappointingly, there are no real curves in this movie, they have lots of casual sex, one falls in love with the other, the other calls it off because that wasn't the deal, then they realize they are in love, go to get them back, there is a slight misunderstanding, but they all end up happily ever after.

A shout-out to Kevin Kline, who plays Ashton's dad, and was a nice addition to the cast.

What you would expect, but that's okay.