Tag: June

Movie Round-Up: June 25th, 2010

Reviews

Grown Ups:

Yeah, it looks stupid.  But it also looks funny.  I’m sure there will be some gross out humor, but it’ll probably have a nice heartwarming family message at the end too.  It isn’t worth $10 to see, but might be worth a matinée or early bird priced ticket.  It’s definitely going into the Netflix queue.

Knight & Day:

In real life, Tom Cruise is fruity, nutty and every other food descriptor used to also describe crazy behavior.  He’s just odd.  But dammit if I don’t end up loving every single movie that he does.  I do find it funny that the plot to this seems very similar to Killers with Kutcher and Heigl, and I’d much rather watch Heigl than Diaz, but even so I find myself drawn to this film.  Plus, it’s big actiony explody guns and cars and fighting which always looks better on the big screen.  I might just have to make my way to the local multiplex for this one.

Movie Round-Up: June 18th, 2010

Reviews

Toy Story 3:

It’s Pixar.  The closest thing they’ve come to making a bad movie, in my opinion, was Cars, and even that wasn’t so bad.  The first two Toy Story movies were awesome, and I expect no less from this third installment.  Seeing this in the theater would be a pretty safe bet, especially if you have kids.  I’m going to try, but other plans may prevail.

Jonah Hex:

I managed to see a screening of this movie and I’m glad I did.  It wasn’t horrible, but when I left the theater the thing foremost on my mind was all the potential they wasted.  I had a similar feeling after seeing Ghost Rider, which is the comic book movie I would most liken Jonah Hex to.  There were some scenes I enjoyed, but overall the film was… underwhelming.  On top of the film being a moderately entertaining squandering of potential for a good story, you get Megan Fox.  I’ve read so many people saying she is very talented and that she just needs the right material to showcase it.  If that is true, then I submit that she needs to find someone else to pick her material, because she keeps making films that are clearly unable to showcase the talent she supposedly has.  In this film she continues her career of passionless dialog delivery, inability to do accents, and blankly staring into the camera in a way that apparently turns on sections of the male population who prefer that a woman have nothing going on in her head and just look pretty.  For me, it’s the vacant stare that ruins her beauty.  I generally want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but after enough performances like this I’m going to have to assume that the people who say she has acting talent are full of shit and performances like this are all we are going to get out of Megan Fox.  All in all, I’d have to say… wait for rental.

Movie Round-Up: June 11th, 2010

Reviews

The Karate Kid:

I’m not a big fan of remakes.  That said, I don’t mind when someone takes an old story and changes it up a bit, because, you know, that’s sort of what all stories are since the dawn of time.  Everything can be boiled down to “it’s a love story” or something similar, the important part is where the story goes, the details.  The trailers look decent enough, and having recently watched the original I can say I’m glad someone is remaking this to get the themes of the film out there to a new audience, because honestly no kid today would enjoy watching the original.  The hair alone!  Oh, the humanity!  I’ll probably see this on DVD because there is only one movie I will see this weekend and it is…

The A-Team:

I’ve probably watched the trailer to this film a few dozen times.  I’ve seen all the old shows, in fact I’ve watched all five seasons through Netflix Instant in the last year.  I hum the theme song whenever I make a plan because “I love it when a plan comes together.”  I was excited for Iron Man 2, but this is the film I’ve been dying to see.  As long as the trailer is indicative of the whole, it looks like they’ve captured the spirit of the show extremely well.  The action, the comedy, everything.  So, yeah, I’ll be seeing this one this weekend.

Movie Round-Up: June 4th, 2010

Reviews

Marmaduke:

I was going to make fun of this movie sight unseen, but then I felt that wasn’t fair, so let me go watch the trailer right now…  Okay, I’m back, and I’m not going to make fun of it.  However, I’m still going to call it stupid.  Sure, it might be fun for kids, but I’ve got no desire to see it and I definitely wouldn’t pay to see it.  Maybe one day in the future when I’m bored and there is nothing else on Netflix to watch.

Get Him to the Greek:

Take Russell Brand as Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Jonah Hill also playing his character from Forgetting Sarah Marshall but not really and make Jonah have to get Russell from Point A to Point B in a short time period.  Cue comedy.  I want to see this.  It looks funny.  Not sure I will, but I’ll try.  If I miss it in the theater it’ll go in at the top of my Netflix queue.

Killers:

I don’t want to like Ashton but I usually end up liking his movies.  So yeah, I’ll probably see this.  Besides, Heigl is hot.

Splice:

Really though, this right here is my must see movie for the weekend.  Sci-fi horror monster movie?  I’m in.  The only thing that will keep me from seeing this is the wife’s complete and utter lack of desire to see it.  As much as I am in, she’s out.  Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.

Movie Round-Up: June 26th, 2009

Reviews

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:

Pass.

Really, that’s about all want to say about it.  The first film was a piece of crap.  The story was poor, the acting was bad, they butchered the source material, and the action was that too-fast-to-follow sort where two things smash into each other, stuff happens, and then one of them wins.  Seeing the trailer for this just reminded me of how much I disliked the first one and how I was going to make no effort at all to see this one.  Sure, people will claim that its just a summer popcorn flick and I expect too much of it, but even for a cartoon designed to sell toys, the original had so much more heart and soul than Michael Bay’s bastardization.  It deserved so much better.

Save your money.  Please.  If it bombs, maybe he’ll stop.

My Sister’s Keeper:

I wept like a little girl.  Movies about cancer patients tend to get at me anyway, but this one was particularly heart wrenching because it is so well acted.  I won’t lie, I saw the “twist” in this film coming a mile away, but there was real edge of my seat interest in watching how long it would play out and at point would everything come to light.  It sounds odd to write about a movie which is about a girl dying of cancer and her sister who doesn’t want to be a donor anymore, but it is how I feel.  I’ve seen criticisms of the movie, and the book on which it is based, from people who say they have a child with leukemia and life isn’t like that, mother’s don’t act that way, donor siblings don’t refuse, blah blah blah… for one, this is a story, it is fiction, and a story in which everyone was happy and the only thing that happened was a girl died of cancer, well, that wouldn’t exactly be riveting viewing.  For me, I can easily see how a mother could get so swept up in saving the life of one of her children that many “lesser concerns” go unnoticed or forgotten.

All in all, a good movie… but bring tissues.

Movie Round-Up: June 19th, 2009

Reviews

Year One:

Every time Jack Black puts out a new film, I approach it with caution.  I find I’m either going to love or hate his work.  There really is not a middle ground.  But the trailers for this film have actually had me chuckling.  They have a very History of the World Part I or Life of Brian feel.  I probably won’t make it to the theater for this one, but I’ll be chomping at the bit to catch it on DVD.

The Proposal:

You’ve seen this movie before.  She’s the boss, a book editor, treats people like crap, and is a Canadian about to be deported, so she promises to a promotion to her assistant in exchange for marriage.  The twist here is that she always thought he was just another assistant, but it turns out he’s from a very wealthy family in Alaska (they own most of the town) and he was in New York chasing his dream of being an editor and avoiding the family business.  So they head to Alaska to meet his family and try to fool the immigration department… comedy ensues.  And while you have seen this movie before, that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.  Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are both great and their on screen chemistry pops.  You know how its going to end before it starts, but it is an enjoyable ride to the finish.  In my opinion, easily worth the matinee price if chick flick romantic comedies are your style.

Movie Round-Up: June 12th, 2009

Reviews

Imagine That:

Eddie Murphy once made his career on raunchy adult themed comedy and movies.  He has long since left that behind in favor of more family friendly fair.  That said, I have actually enjoyed a few of them.  While Norbit, the Doolittle sequels and the Nutty Professor movies left me flat, I actually enjoyed Meet Dave.  This movie looks cute, so it’ll definitely get a rental viewing, but as cute as it looks I don’t think it’s enough to earn $10 from my wallet on opening weekend.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3:

I kept meaning to Netflix the original so I could see it before this remake opened, but I never did.  The trailer looks pretty decent, and I like most of the actors.  I want to see it, but John Travolta as a bad guy is fairly hit or miss.  Hit, Broken Arrow.  Miss, The Punisher.  So, for me, I probably won’t run out and see it, but will wait for the rental.  However, it does look like a good action film, so you might want to check it out.

Away We Go:

Technically, this movie opened last week, but only on 4 screens.  This week marks the first expansion into places where average people might actually have a chance to see it.  I saw it at a screening and … I think it is a damn shame that I’ve seen some outlets compare this film to Juno.  It sets the absolute wrong expectations since Away We Go is nothing like Juno.  What Away We Go is about is a couple (I don’t want to say ‘young’ because they are 34) who are about to have a baby and had moved to be close to his parents.  But his parents have decided to move to Antwerp, so now they are looking for other family and friends to live near.  Conveniently, both of them have jobs that are not location based, so off they go in search of a new place to raise their forthcoming child.  Along the way they encounter four completely different families and learn about the things they want and the things they don’t want.  Its sweet, its funny, and its also sad in places.  Most of all, though, its worth watching.

Movie Round-Up: June 5th, 2009

Reviews

Land of the Lost:

I grew up on the show, which means I approach a remake with much hesitation.  Add to that the fact that I don’t really find Will Ferrell to be all that funny, and you’ve got a movie I am not itching to see.  But I’m sure it will make a ton of money.

The Hangover:

If you are going to go see one movie this weekend and aren’t dead set on seeing Land of the Lost, I suggest seeing The Hangover.  This movie is hilarious.  Just awesome.  Every actor seems so perfectly cast, and the whole thing is so absurd but it never quite goes into disgusting territory with its humor.  It is one night they will never forget, if only they could remember.

My Life In Ruins:

I wasn’t a big fan of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  It was humorous.  It was cute.  But overall it was… eh…  So I went in to My Life In Ruins with the bar set pretty low.  And that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much.  It is humorous.  It is cute.  Greece is beautiful and the whole film is well shot.  And Richard Dreyfuss steals the show.  If you go see two movies this weekend, and one of them is The Hangover, make the other one My Life In Ruins and just skip Land of the Lost.

Jamaica

Random Thoughts

2006 has been a banner year for my family. In February, I got married. In June, my younger brother got married. And two days ago, my older brother got married. I know what you are thinking… “Dude, the title of this post is Jamaica!” Yeah, we all flew down to Jamaica and my new sister-in-law and her husband got hitched on the beach.

Well, not on the beach, but on a gazeebo thingy on a little pier like thing out from the beach. It was fairly cool.

And Jamaica itself is nothing to shake a stick at… unless you really just love shaking sticks at things, because I suppose if that kind of thing is your bag, well, just shake away, my friend, shake away. The beaches are nice, the water is warm, the pools are cool, the jacuzzis are hot, and when you stay at a Sandals resort all the food and drinks are free.

We stayed at the Sandals Royal Caribbean resort which is in Montego Bay… unfortunately it is being partially renovated at this time, so a couple of the restaurants were closed, but they have a private island, and that’s just sweet.

As always though, three nights anywhere just really is not enough time to really get into a vacation. The next one I swear is going to be at least a week.