Tag: Round

Movie Round-Up: March 12th, 2010

Reviews

Remember Me:

If I didn’t know better, I might think this was another Nicolas Sparks book turned into a movie.  I’m pretty sure the movie is going to be entirely unsurprising.  Boy gets in trouble, boy has poor relationship with father, boy decides to get revenge on man who does wrong to him by dating that man’s daughter, boy falls in love with girl, girl finds out about trouble and revenge scheme, they split, boy proves he really does love her even after his own father tells him he’s better off without her.  Roll credits.  It doesn’t look horrible, it just looks typical, and as much of a sucker as I am for romantic comedies, romantic dramas I tend to wait for DVD.

Our Family Wedding:

I watched the trailer for this and I can’t put my finger on it, but I think I’ve seen this movie before.  Mixed marriage, cultures collide.  Eh… I won’t be running to the theater to see this, but I can see myself putting it on Netflix when its there and I’m bored.

Green Zone:

Matt Damon makes good action films.  You know, from the beginnings of his career I wouldn’t have guessed that, but he does.  The Bourne films showcased it, and this movie looks to be following in those footsteps.  I really want to see this one.

She’s Out of My League:

The only movie releasing this week that I managed to see a screening of, and it was awesome.  The story is about a guy who isn’t particularly good looking, with a crappy job and no real ambition, who has been dumped by a girl that treats him poorly but he thinks he loves, and how he begins dating a girl who is smart, successful, and gorgeous.  I think what I loved most about this movie is that while it does have a bit of foul language and some shocking scenes, it never scrapes the bottom of the barrel.  It never goes disgustingly scatological.  Even when it gets close, it handles it in a more mature way, leaving the “worst parts” to be inferred by the audience.  I really enjoyed this film, much more than I thought I would.  And the wife loved it too, so I’d even safely recommend this as a date movie.

Movie Round-Up: February 19th, 2010

Reviews

Shutter Island:

It’s a Scorsese film.  It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earl Haley, Ted Levine, and Elias Koteas.  It’s a horror, thriller, mystery movie.  I’ve just listed a whole mess of reasons why I should want to see this film, but for some reason I’m just not excited.  Perhaps it is because I’m worried it is going to be crap despite all the promise.  Scorsese’s The Departed was the same way, tons of reasons why I should rush out and see it, but I didn’t, and when I finally caught it on DVD I was disappointed.  I mean, I enjoyed the movie, but I thought it fell apart at the end.  So here I am looking at the trailers for Shutter Island and all I can think is “I bet it doesn’t end well.”  I probably won’t see this one this weekend, but I’ll be sure to catch it on DVD when it inevitably comes out later this year.  But who knows… if the reviews are good enough, I might make time to see it next weekend.

Saint John of Las Vegas:

Technically, this movie doesn’t release this week.  It had been making the festival rounds and it had a limited release back at the end of January (probably in two theaters), but if you look around you might find a showing (in LA) or a screening somewhere.  I saw it at a free screening this week thanks to the people at FilmMetro.  Anyway, it is the story of a man (Steve Buscemi) who has a gambling problem (he loses a lot) who works as an insurance claims adjuster in Albuquerque that asks for a raise and gets promoted to fraud investigator and has to head to Las Vegas to look into a claim.  I’ve been told this movie is inspired by the book Dante’s Inferno.  Having never read that book, I can’t be sure.  This movie isn’t splashy or action packed.  It is a slow film about a guy trying to deal with his vices and make his way in the world.  At times it is funny, other times it is sad, and overall I can’t really say the movie is good, but I don’t feel like I wasted my time.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to pay for this one, but if you can find a free screening or catch it on Netflix at some point in the future, maybe you might enjoy it.

Movie Round-Up: February 12th, 2010

Reviews

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief:

I can’t be sure, but I think this will be the longest titled movie of the year.  In any event, I’m interested.  I’ve heard good things about the series of books, even been tempted a time or two to pick them up, and I still might.  And from the trailer, the effects look pretty cool.  However, having not read the books I doubt I’m going to catch this at full price.  If it gets great reviews then I might catch this at a half price early morning show or something.  But if it is good, and it does well, they can probably count me in for future installments.

Valentine’s Day:

A chick flick for a chick holiday.  So, yes, I’ll be going to see this.  Plus, I think every actor in Hollywood is in this movie.

The Wolfman:

I’ve heard some comments on Benicio Del Toro’s acting being a bit flat, but even though I’m still wanting to see this.  Hey, I love monsters.  Vampires (that don’t glitter in sunlight), werewolves, zombies, ghosts, etc.  I’ll see them all.  This movie intrigues me because it is more like the classic wolfman films than the newer werewolf movies we’ve seen in the past couple of decades.  If I can convince the wife to go, this movie will get my $10.

Movie Round-Up: February 5th, 2010

Reviews

It’s communications week at the cinema…

Dear John:

Nicholas Sparks strikes again!  He showed up for a Q&A at another screening I attended once and talked about how he wrote most of his books in around eleven weeks each.  The man has found his niche and he knows how to tug the heartstrings.  That said, of all his books turned to films, this one has got to be the weakest.  After seeing a screening of this, I felt the leads just don’t have much chemistry.  I found that I really didn’t care whether their love survived or not.  On the other hand, the relationship between the titular John and his father was very well done.  Richard Jenkins is a fantastic actor, and the movie is almost worth paying to see just for him.  Almost, but not quite.

From Paris With Love:

I saw the trailer for this film a while back.  Travolta with a shaved head, big earring and that goatee just looked too weird.  And the movie itself just seemed odd.  The only thing that piqued my interest at all was it being the same team that brought us Taken.  I saw a screening of this film last week.  It was far better than I expected.  The first few moments were slow, but once Travolta arrived the movie kicked into high gear and never let up.  This movie was so exciting and so fun, I’d absolutely say it is worth the price of admission.  Buy a ticket, take a seat and hold on.

Movie Round-Up: January 29th, 2010

Reviews

This week is “three word title” week…

When in Rome:

Since I’ve already admitted to liking chick flicks and romantic comedies, I won’t bother pretending I don’t want to see this.  And Kristin Bell is just all kinds of awesome.  Her performance in Veronica Mars means that I’ll see anything she’s in for decades.  Besides, this looks to be hilarious.  I may not make it to the theater to see this one because of time and money constraints, but I want to.  If you have the means and the desire, go see it.

Edge of Darkness:

I went to a screening of this on Tuesday and just before the show I tweeted and posted on Facebook that I wanted this to be good.  Luckily, it was.  I haven’t seen the original mini-series.  I want to, it is in the Netflix queue.  But word on the street is that it is great.  While I wouldn’t call this movie great, it was intriguing and kept my attention the whole time.  The only real downside to this film is Mel Gibson’s accent and nasally voice.  At times it threatens to ruin the film, but never quite does.  Every other performance here is nearly flawless.  I would warn, however, don’t go in expecting an action thriller.  There is action, but most of the story unfolds slowly over its almost two hour length and is only punctuated by action.  To me, this movie is worth the price of admission.

Movie Round-Up: January 22nd, 2010

Reviews

Tooth Fairy:

I have absolutely no desire at all to see Dwayne Johnson in a tutu and wings playing the part of the mythical figure who takes teeth from under kids’ pillows and leaves money behind.  None.  Well, maybe if it is awful enough I’ll watch it for a laugh someday on DVD.

Extraordinary Measures:

Based on a true story of a man with sick kids who decides to help fund the research of a drug for a cure.  I got to see a screening of this a while back, and it was decent enough, but it was typical.  It tugged the right heartstrings at the right moments, it made me laugh now and then to lighten the mood, and I felt good watching it.  That said, it really isn’t worth the price of admission.  Not full price anyway.

Legion:

Angels versus humanity.  I got to see a screening of this last night and my opinion can be summed up in two words: wasted potential.  This movie isn’t horrible, but it also isn’t really good either.  The underlying ideas are fine, but the execution of them is lacking.  The film could have been staged better to be more exciting, the diner in the middle of nowhere felt way too cliche.  Every step of the way, every fight, every loss, every win, it felt uninspired.  The movie took no risks.  That said… there were some good lines and scenes.  I kinda enjoyed the movie on some level, but I wouldn’t pay to see it.

Movie Round-Up: January 15th, 2010

Reviews

Now commencing, the week of “The” …

The Spy Next Door:

Our first “The” film is this little throwaway kid friendly family film starring Jackie Chan as a secret super spy who also babysits.  Or something like that.  Take the kids, sure, but don’t expect to be anything other than predictable.  Not worth my money, and I had the opportunity, three times, to see this for free and never did.

The Lovely Bones:

Our second “The” film is an adaptation of a very successful book.  I’ve actually wanted to read the book, however, I put that idea aside once I heard there was to be a film.  Films always have to excise content from the book, sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad.  If the film is good, I’ll read the book in a couple of years.  Anyway, if you don’t know, its about a girl who is raped and murdered looking in on the world after her death.  She follows her family and the man who killed her and she watches her family fall apart and the murderer prepare to go after another girl.  I’m not sure I’ll make it to the theater for this one, mostly because dramas don’t really benefit from the big screen (and often are hurt by people who won’t shut the hell up), but if I head to the cinema, this will be on my list.

The Book of Eli:

Our last “The” film is this post-apocalyptic tale.  I was lucky enough to get into a screening of this last night, and let me tell you, in my opinion, this is one damn fine film.  The Hughes Brothers have taken Gary Whitta’s script and painted it beautifully on the screen with excellent use of Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.  I know some people in the theater were bored, because their shuffling and chatting occasionally distracted me, but I was enraptured.  Even having already seen it, I may pay to see it again.  Well done, gentlemen.  Well done.

And here ends the week of “The”.

Movie Round-Up: January 8th, 2010

Reviews

Skipped last week because, oddly, nothing opened on New Year’s Day…  anyway, onward!

Youth in Revolt:

Just as I’m getting tired of seeing Michael Cera play Michael Cera over and over, it looks like he finally decided to take a project which might prove he can act.  Sort of.  As Nick, he’s Michael Cera as usual.  But from the bits you can see in the trailer, when he’s Francois he’s actually not Michael Cera.  The movie looks entertaining, but as surprised as I am to see him acting, I’m not about to drop money at box office prices for another Michael Cera film.  I’ll see you on DVD, Michael Cera.  Perhaps I should revise this review, because I don’t think I said Michael Cera enough.  Michael Cera.

Leap Year:

Amy Adams in a romantic comedy about two people who are wrong for each other turning out to be right for each other.  The wife deserves a date night every now and then, and I can use it as an excuse to feed my addiction to chick flicks.  Yeah, I’m in.

Daybreakers:

It is really nice to see someone do something interesting with vampires now and then.  Hush, you Twilight fanatics… vampires who sparkle like diamonds in sunlight are many things, but interesting is not one of them.  Now, Daybreakers, on the other hand, takes us to a world where vampires run everything, and they hunted humans down nearly to extinction.  One vampire is looking for a way to make high quality synthetic blood to save his race.  But a group of humans have stumbled on something else: a cure.  In addition to just sounding cool, the movie looks cool, and it’s got Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe, all of whom I enjoy watching work.  I think this followed by The Book of Eli next week are going to be a nice one-two punch of awesome at the theater.  I’ll be there.

Michael Cera.

Movie Round-Up: December 25th, 2009

Reviews

It’s Christmas, so these are going to be short and sweet…

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel:

No.  Just, no.  Not if you paid me.

It’s Complicated:

You know, reading the description of this movie, I wouldn’t mind seeing.  But I’m certainly not going to pay $10 to see it in the theater.

Nine:

Just like the movie above, it looks like its going to be decent, but not at the theater.  I’ll wait for this musical on Netflix.

Up in the Air:

I’m a big fan of Jason Reitman’s work, especially since Thank You For Smoking.  And George Clooney is great.  Everything I’ve heard about this film is good news, so I totally want to go see this.

Sherlock Holmes:

Oh, hell yes.  I’ve always liked Holmes, but not when he just stood around out-thinking his opponents.  I prefer Holmes to have a touch of action and adventure to him.  From the first trailer I saw of this I knew I was going to see it, and see it I will.

Movie Round-Up: December 11th, 2009

Reviews

The Princess and the Frog:

Pass.  I mean, the trailer for this didn’t exactly excite me.  It is more for kids, more for girls I think, and I just didn’t really seem to care for much of what I saw.  Maybe I’ll see it on DVD or something eventually.

Invictus:

I was completely unaware of Nelson Mandela’s attempt to utilize the South African Rugby team to unify his country behind a common love.  Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon are both incredible, and not knowing how things turned out made the sports parts exciting.  Thumbs up.

Me and Orson Welles:

Not a wide opening, but since I did see a screening I wanted to mention it.  Set during Orson Welles’ production of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theater, Zac Efron plays Richard Samuels, a high school kid who dreams of acting, who runs to the city and talks his way into a small but important roll in Welles’ production.  Welles, played fantastically by Christian McKay, runs roughshod over his company to get the vision he wants.  Richard falls for Sonja Jones, played by Claire Danes, a production assistant, but she has her eyes on a future career in theater and movies.  There isn’t a lot of action here, but there is a lot of heart and humor.  However, the real reason to see this film is to see McKay playing Welles.  Completely worth the price of admission if you are in to that sort of thing.