Depth of Processing: Movies

Exceptionally Loud and Incredibly Close

2012-02-11T18:12:00.002-08:00

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Plot: Nine year old Oscar (Thomas Horn) was very close to his Dad, Thomas (Tom Hanks), and they played scavenger hunt games in New York City. Thomas was killed in 9-11, and had left heart rending messages on the answering machine for Oscar. One day Oscar finds a key hidden in his Dad's closet, and Oscar begins to search for whatever lock the key fit. He visits hundreds of people in New York looking. At one point he is helped by an older mute man (Max von Sydow.)

Review: Exceptionally Loud and Incredibly Close is an ambitious movie because it takes on the meaning of 9-11 from the point of view of the survivors. Of course, the movie works hard to make us experience the senselessness of this, and to experience the horror, guilt and loneliness the families experienced. It is only a film, and so it takes some melodramatic turns and plot twists designed to comfort the audience from the bleak, existential message.

Many have found solace in God after 9-11, but EL&IC does not. The approach to 9-11 is notable for its absence of faith. It stares emptiness and doubt right in the face. There are outstanding scenes including one where child actor Horn rants for 2 minutes about the hopelessness of his search for more clues from his father. The recognition that the search of hopeless is like accepting that his father is irrevocably dead.

The film takes a while to get going, the plot lacks believability, and Tom Hanks is like a cartoon of a good Dad. A more believable plot might have way too bleak for audiences to sit through. It has a series of great scenes that make the movie worth seeing mixed with scenes of lesser quality.

I liked young Thomas Horn throughout. Sandra Bullock underacts the whole time, and only has a few good scenes. Tom Hanks is likeable enough, but is not a realistic character -- probably by design.

Finally, EL&IC generally avoids trading on the horror of 9-11 for entertainment value. Aside for 15 seconds at the end of the movie, the film is not offensive because it is about survivors not the disaster itself. It avoids gallows humor about the towers falling -- which would have been very offensive. There is no humor in the movie at all.

Cast: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock

Directed by: Stephen Daldry, based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer

Rating: 3.5 stars: The good parts are good, and it takes on tough issues. It is imperfect though.

More: Lots of great pictures of New York City

Even more: I want to see it again. Maybe even buy a copy.

Chronicle

2012-02-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

The French poster captures the sentiment of the movie
unlike English one.

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Plot: High School Senior Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is chronicling his life on video like a "lifeblogger," and after he explores an artifact in a cave with friends Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan) they all develop telekinesis -- the ability to move things with their minds. This starts small, and they have fun exploring what they can do in a realistic way. Andrew's anti-social tendencies come out, and he begins to act out in a big way. The film is supposed to be video from Andrew's video Chronicle.

Review: Wow, Chronicle was a fun movie. Much more fun that expected, and way better than the preview led me to believe. The movie revolves around believable characters and is buttressed by good writing and a clever story idea. The film builds the supernatural powers slowly, and that makes the movie more fun.

I liked the acting of Michael B. Jordan the most. He was dynamic and interesting. Dane DeHaan and Alex Russell were good, but not great. Beginning director Josh Trank does a great job with the hand-held video premise. Unlike other hand-held video this did not cause motion-sickness related nausea.

Chronicle but it is not in the same league as Oscar favorite The Descendants, which I saw last week. More people will see Chronicle than The Descendants, and twenty years from now people will still be watching Chronicle since it has a timelessness.

Chronicle is a not four star picture because the final scenes are not well connected to the well developed characters in the middle of the movie. This is because Trank is really making a superhero origin story, not a character based drama. One place we see that is that essentially shy Andrew suddenly doesn't care that he has become the greatest spectacle in Seattle at the end of the move. We know his Dad is a jerk, but Andrew was a Master at keeping the anger under control at home. It is out of character that he'd break out like he does. A few phrases about being a "Climax Predator," is not enough. In a top movie, there would have been more dialog at the end, as in Spiderman 2.

Cast: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan.

Directed by: Josh Trank

Rating: 3.25 stars: By Popular Demand! Quarter Stars have arrived at DOP: Movies for 2012.

More: This movie should have been made in 3D!

Even more: I saw this at a theater full of kids, and when someone gets impaled on a statue -- the 3rd grader next to me goes "that's so cool." Movies are more fun with an audience.

The Descendants

2012-01-29T04:45:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Elizabeth King gets in a boating accident, and the doctors are ready to pull the plug. Husband Matt (George Clooney) has to tell daughters Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara) that Mom is going to die. Scottie and Alex are both acting out, and give Dad a hard time. Alex drags friend Sid (Nick Krause) along on visits to the hospitals and relatives as they let people know of Elizabeth's impending death. In the meantime, the King family is working with their cousins to sell multi-million dollar beach front property they inherited; creating yet another layer of family dynamics.

Review: The Descendants is a well-written movie with substantive characters having one serious conversation after another. All the action is in the minds of the characters, but the family dynamics is realistic and the characters are engaging. The plot twist in the middle turns up the volume on the tension.

I liked George Clooney throughout. Even though he is so familiar, he inhabits the character and does not seem too famous for the role. He takes in all the tumult and depicts in naturally -- if a little understated. He never seems to get mad, but frustrated.

Actress Woodley most fun scenes are when she is hostile at the beginning, but she changes to being helpful later, and becomes more likable. She has some good reaction shots. Her scenes are also a little more understated that realistic, and I think that is the hand of director Payne.

The soundtrack was unremarkable. Although there are beautiful vistas of Hawaii, the photography is not awe-inspiring.

The real star of The Descendants is the writing. I liked the movie a lot. It was substantive and it was a real movie with feelings, emotions, and a moral direction. I am not sure if its quality makes up for its basic lack of fun-ness. It is a lot of dialog with only a little levity.

The pacing of the movie is fine, but it is dominated our knowledge that the whole enterprise ends with a death, crying and a funeral. I suppose life is like that too.

Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley

Directed by: Alexander Payne, who shares credit for the writing.

Rating: 4.0 - stars. It is not as good as Moneyball or Young Adult, but it is better than Marilyn. Better than Hugo, Bridesmaids, Super 8 or Harry Potter.

More: The character of Sid was pretty clever; he provides some comic relief, and makes the movie 100 times less stuffy.

Haywire

2012-01-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Mallory (Gina Carano) is a free-agent spy who works for a Blackwater-type spy contractor run by Kenneth (Ewan McGregor). She and Aaron (Channing Tatum) go to Barcelona to free a kidnapped journalist, and soon bad guys are trying to frame her for murdering the journalist. Mallory has to figure out what is going on, stay alive, and get revenge.

Review: Haywire is a thriller with secret agents, and in a twist they work for private contractors rather than governments. In Haywire, like all modern spy stories, it is not clear who the bad guys are, and as the plot twists the loyalties of the characters become clear.

The movie is well-made with good visual story telling, a fairly easy to follow plot, interesting characters that seem to actual motivations.

I liked Haywire especially the on-foot chase scene in the middle. Toward the end, the climatic scenes did not build tension as they should, because Malloy becomes an aggressive killer as she gets revenge. The change from victim to killer reduced the suspense.

Most action movie heroes can beat up a roomful of thugs easily, and Mallory is no different. It is refreshing that she actually looks tired after punching out people, and looked hurt after she fell off a building. Former American Gladiator Gina Carano looks like she can really fight, but it seems like a stretch that she can beat up all these tough guys in a row.

Part of Haywire is the empty morality of the characters. All this fighting is for more money for these contractor corporations --at least James Bond is trying to save the free-world. I expect the lack of moral code is one of the themes the writer Lem Dobbs had in mind.

Good soundtrack.

Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum

Directed by: Steven Soderberg

Rating: 3.0 - stars: fairly fun to watch, interesting characters, but it is just for fun, no morale.

minus

More: Why is it called Haywire?

Even more: Haywire is rated "R," but there is no blood, no swearing, and no nudity, but there are a lot of guys getting kicked in the face.

The Adventures of TinTin

2012-01-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

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Plot: TinTin, boy reporter, buys a model boat, but suddenly people are trying to buy it, and then steal it. The boat has a secret inside left by Francis Haddock who built it. Soon bad guy Sakharine has the boat, and is sailing across the world to solve the mystery. TinTin and Haddock's son try to find him, and solve the mystery. There are a large number of twists each punctuated by an action scene like a getting ship wrecked, a pirate fight, getting stranded in the desert, climbing on the wings of a plane, and more.

Review: TinTin is a full bore effort at an animated adventure movie that despite its technical competence failed. It failed because I never cared about the hero, who has no backstory, no homelife, no non-canine friends, no motivation to be risking his life in his action-adventure movie death-defying antics. It also failed because of the animation failed to convey emotion. I don't mean that motion-capture technology can't convey emotion, because it can -- it simply does not do so here. We don't have skilled animation providing interesting facial movement, and we don't have functional computerized scanned-in motion capture emotion either.

Worse, the animation of Tintin is in the uncanny valley, which means its human replicas are too realistic to be viewed as drawings, and too fake to be real -- the result is disturbing and it repeated disrupts the movie illusion -- at least for me. The term goes back to 1906, and Freud wrote about it. It might be better to use these close CGI human replicas as villains only since the psyche seems quickly creeped out by them.

The plot is complicated, but not too hard to follow. There is some comic relief. I think the number of drunked sea captain jokes is so high as too be offensive. I don't think kids should be exposed to this much drinking.

On the bright side the music was good. The 3D was OK.

The worst part was that it was just no fun. Unlike the best comic book movies, there was no social message or interesting characters. This was the shallowest of comic heros in a poor adaptation. It shows that Steven Spielberg does not always make good movies.

Cast: (animated)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Rating: 1.5 stars:

More: I would have liked this better in live action.

My Week With Marilyn

2012-01-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

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Plot: American actress Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) comes to England to make a movie with the older Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). Marilyn has emotional and medical problems while making the movie, and assistant director Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) keeps her company. Marilyn flirts with Colin, and it helps her mood and her acting.

Review: My Life with Marilyn plays with our fascination with fame/celebrity. It shows us a human story about the troubled Marilyn. Many of her problems are caused by her fame, and her story seems more significant because of her fame.

Great acting and directing make this a fun movie despite its simple storyline. Michelle Williams shows us both troubled Marilyn and the showgirl Marilyn, and the transition between the two. Marilyn has these impish flashes of personality that everyone loves, and somehow actress Michelle is able to channel that.

This is a well crafted movie: I liked the photography and the set design. There are a few good songs; Michelle can sing on key, and she has a great dance sequence.

[Minor Spoiler] True to the title, My Week with Marilyn, only lasts a week, and at the end of the week, it peters out. On one hand, I say I better dramatic conclusion would have pushed the film over the top, and on the other hand, I say director Curtis was brave enough skip aHollywood ending. In any case, the movie does not have the standard dramatic arc, and it ends with Olivier quoting lines from on old play.

Cast: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh

Directed by: Simon Curtis

Rating: 3.5+ stars: I really liked this movie, nearly four stars. In the top group for 2011.

More: Marilyn Monroe: "People always see Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realize i'm not her, they run."

War Horse

2011-12-31T18:04:00.000-08:00

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Plot: A old farmer buys an expensive horse, and gives it to his son to train to plough, but then the horse is sold to the British Army as World War I starts. The horse has a series of four owners during the war, and each one has a little adventure.

Review: War Horse is a kid's movie that is completely earnest, and it is a bit of a fairy tale oriented around the heroism of the horse. Some people, like myself, might find this story too obvious and "cheesy," however I am sure that children and horse-lovers will find it wonderful.

I found certain sequences painfully slow -- so much that I closed my eyes and wished I was somewhere else. Closing the eyes is not recommended generally because the photography was wonderful. All the sets were beautiful, and the shots of the horses were almost poetic. I also liked the music.

The acting was straight-forward, which is about all that can be expected from such a story. I did not feel any special emotion coming from the horse -- as in Sea Biscuit, for example. Sea Biscuit was a much better movie.

The best scene was when Joey, the horse, raced in the the "No-Man's-Land" between the trenches pulling up the barbed wire and becoming entangled in them. A highlight was the interesting battle scenes in WWI. There was a section that reminded me of Saving Private Ryan.

I was pretty disappointed. I wished I would have seen something else.

Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Based on the book by: Michael Morpurgo

Rating: 2.0 stars, which I think is generous. It probably deserves less based on the fact that it is NOT fun-to-watch. However it is really pretty, and might be good for a family with grade school kids except that the battle scenes were violent (though not bloody.)

More: I wonder how this movie would have worked without the dialog. I bet I could have followed the story just fine, and it would not have seemed as cheesy.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

2011-12-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) gets framed for blowing a up a Russian building, and then gets abandoned by the US government. He and three others work to prevent a crazy man from starting a nuclear war.

Review: Ghost Protocol's strength is that the super-smart and well-equipped good guys are abandoned and become are the underdogs. Worse, things keep going wrong -- one thing after the next, and Ethan Hunt seems to absorb a lot of physical punishment too. This creates good will, and keeps the movie fresh.

We have seen a million spy movies, and three previous Mission Impossible movies. With such a simple story, and the writers appear to be trying to find new material, and for the most part succeeding. This film is well crafted, and a little bit humorous.

The best scene is the one from the preview where the Secretary of State is explaining how the IMF has been "disavowed." This is a plot thread that Mission Impossible has been setting up since the first TV episode, and it is about time that they played out what happens when you get "disavowed."

Another good scene is the opening scene with an IMF spy falling backwards down a building, and shooting badguys with a pistols in each hand as he falls -- it is a copy of Trinity's fall in Matrix Revolutions, and just as cool here.

The plot is simple and most of the story is told visually, as the film keeps going in the same direction from beginning to end. The characters have small backstories, but seems to be acting out of self-less dedication instead of personal motivation. The music is good. The special effects are good quality without being too superhero.

Ghost Protocol is a fun movie; the morale is about self-less devotion to country despite the fact that the government betrays you -- not a serious message.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist

Directed by: Brad Bird

Rating: A strong 2.5 stars, almost made three based on its fun-ness.

More: Paramount is making a new, fifth Mission Impossible.

Even more: Does anyone use the word "disavowed," besides Mission Impossible?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011-12-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) tries to solve a 40 year old murder with the help of young hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara.) Lisbeth is sexually assaulted by her lawyer, but strikes back. Blomkvist uncovers half century old sex crimes enroute to the surprising ending.

Review: It's like a fruit cake -- good parts held together with a not-so-great cakey binder.

There are some powerful scenes in the movie, and maybe that is enough. Only a fan can follow the complex plot which is crammed in and brimming over. I read the books and saw the Swedish version of the movie, and I am sure I missed things. A non-fan would need three viewings. There are too many villains, too many Vanger Family relatives and too many gray-suited businessmen.

Rooney Mara and the costumer Trish Summerfield gave Lisbeth with a great look. She is detached and damaged, smart and tough. I liked her look, even though the book's Lisbeth is more petite

The best parts are the scenes when she goes crazy and gets revenge. Mara does a great job of coming alive and being psycho. I don't think she is psycho often enough.

The worst scenes are the crime procedural parts; these are too packed together to be fun. Also we don't see the genius Hacker part of Lisbeth enough.

The sex scenes between Lisbeth and Mikael don't make sense, and they did not make sense in the book either -- hard to believe Lisbeth and Mikael are any kind of couple.

Daniel Craig plays a more thoughtful character than James Bond, and he does well. His well known face does not detract because he is deeply in character.

In summary, some excellent scenes Lisbeth is still a great character, but the complex story is too thin to connect all the cool scenes together. This movie would benefit from Cable News style subtitles to people what is going on.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara

Directed by: David Fincher

Rating: 3.0 stars: I had high expectations, and I was a little disappointed. Lisbeth Salander is still a great character, and you should go see her.

More: I loved the opening credits. The acid distorted version of the Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song is great shown over the drippy black paint and creepy images. Definitely the best opening credits of the year.

Even more: Love the ending. Go Lisbeth.

Yet more: Many similarities to the Swedish movie.

Young Adult

2011-12-17T17:29:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Writer Mavis (Charlize Theron) is supposed to be finishing a pulp romance novel, when she finds her high school boyfriend Buddy (Patrick Wilson) just had a baby with his new wife. She jumps in her Mini Cooper and is off to win him back. When she gets there Matt has a drink with her, and she begins work on getting him back. In a bar, she meets old high school friend Matt (Patton Oswalt,) who may be gay, and is now disabled. She puts herself in increasing desperate, and embarrassing situations trying to break up his marriage.

Review: Young Adult is a light drama about how Mavis can't never grew up, and is reliving her high school life. She is upset that Buddy is living an adult life when she is still drinking hard and sleeping around. Hard drinking Mavis keeps pushing until she becomes pathetic, and crashes. A lot of people never resolve their high school issues, just like Mavis.

Diablo Cody's dialog is the best, and Charlize Theron facial acting is a great combination. Despite the gimmicky plot, most of the fun is the small gestures and intonations between two people. It can be very funny, but you have to like this kind of comic drama.

Ultimately Mavis decides that she needs to grow up, and that produces a feel good ending.

Charlize Theron should be considered for an Oscar.

Cast: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt

Directed by: Jason Reitman; written by Diablo Cody

Rating: 4.0 stars - fun to watch with a heart too; at first I thought only 3.5, but the more I think about the film, the more I like it.

More: It looked like a Diablo Cody cameo on the TV in Mavis's hotel room.

Even More: Mavis's poor neglected dog

J. Edgar

2011-12-03T16:47:00.001-08:00

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Plot: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a colorful and corrupt government official whose austere lifestyle and paranoid beliefs made him a colorful figure. The movie starts in the twenties with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, catches mobsters during Prohibition, battles communists during the 50's and blackmails Martin Luther King during the '60s.

Hoover has an odd personal personal life forcused on his mother (Judy Dench,) his work, and his assistant Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer.) The nature of the relationship is hard to understand.

Review: J. Edgar is a historical memoir with voice over narration and a laser focus on J. Edgar Hoover. The story of eccentricity of Hoover is interesting on human level, but also how Hoover fit in to the events of the 20th Century gives the story heft and substance.

This is the best performance from Leonardo DeCaprio in a longtime. The dialog is great. In historical movies, it is difficult to know what is real and what is move adaptation. This is especially true here as the film is presenting Hoover's version of the story, which is overstating his importance.

I liked the sound editing -- it isn't usual that the sound editing seems sharp, but it did here. There is not much muscial sound track and the photography was unexceptional.

The old age make up works on DiCaprio and Watts, but Hammer looks awful. What happened to his face?

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Rating: 3 stars: always entertaining;

More: Gotta like Judy Dench

Even more: Here is a photo of the real Hoover and Tolson:

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Hugo

2011-12-02T18:32:00.001-08:00

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Plot: Hugo (Asa Butterfield), an orphan in 1920's Paris, lives in a train station where he winds the clocks, and tries to keep clear of the constable (Sacha Baron Cohen). He tries to steal parts for an automaton from a toy dealer (Ben Kingsley,) but is caught and soon meets the dealer's foster daughter Isabella (Chloe Grace Mortez.) Isabella and Hugo discover a secret about the toy dealer which propels the movie to its conclusion.

Review: This story about the plight of orphans in Paris is a stylized fantasy, but well-done, always entertaining, and fun to watch.

The tween actors, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Mortez, are excellent, and they execute their lines with emotion and not woodenness.

I also liked the Sash Baron Cohen character, who is handicapped physically and emotionally. His whole subplot was pretty cool, and is a parallel story to Hugo's.

A really well-directed 3D movie where much of the action occurs in a plane perpendicular to the screen rather than left to right. The photography is very good, and the giant clock scenes are outstanding in art direction.

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Mortez, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Rating: 3.5 stars: top film: nearly 4.0

More: The filmmaker is certainly in love with film making.

Even more: I liked the stylized artwork in the old silent movies.

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

2011-11-19T16:41:00.001-08:00

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Plot: Harold is married, and his father-in-law brought a home-grown Christmas tree, which Kumar burns down. Harold and Kumar need to replace the tree before Harold's wife and family get back from Midnight Mass. They buy another tree but it gets wrecked in a traffic accident, and then they run around town trying to get another while avoiding getting shot by mobsters.

Review: This is a light movie with some funny parts and lots of low-brow humor -- especially drug jokes and penis jokes. The first half hour is relatively intelligent, Rom-Com humor with Harold and his wife's family. I thought the film might have potential early. As the film progresses, the situation-comedy get more and more extreme and not as good.

In the middle, there are fifteen minutes of Neal Patrick Harris scenes that were pretty funny.

I saw it in 2D, and we missed some scenes which were clearly only for 3D. I wish I would have seen it in 3D.

The soundtrack had some interesting versions of Christmas songs, and a few may be worth downloading. Overall it is a likable, sophomoric movie.

Cast: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neal Patrick Harris

Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: Waffle-Bot is the new R2-D2. I'd like a Waffle-Bot sequel.

Tower Heist

2011-11-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Josh (Ben Stiller) manages a NYC super luxury apartment, where a Bernie Madoff type financial villain named Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) lives. Arthur had lost the apartment worker's pension fund huge financial scandal, and the apartment workers are mad and want to get even. The crew plots to get their money back. Josh recruits his childhood friend Slide (Eddie Murphy) to help.

Review: Tower Heist is fast and always entertaining; it is not great cinema. It has a few good scenes with sit-com set-ups and sit-com laughs.

I liked the analogy between the real life Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, and Arthur's scandal. When that wears thin, there is Eddie Murphy's larger-than-life character stealing every scene that he is in. Gabourey Sidibe spices things up with a tough girl Jamaican character.

The music is good. The photography is nothing special.

Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Gabourey Sidibe, Mathew Broderick.

Directed by: Brett Ratner

Rating: 2.5 stars: Entertaining enough to recommend. It is a good evening at the movies. A good popcorn movie.

More: Tower Heist and last week's In Time both have Occupy Wall Street themes. Is this a trend?

In Time

2011-10-30T05:08:00.000-07:00

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Plot: In a distopian future, people grow up to be 25 years old when they either die, or if they have money they can buy more time, which is additional days of life. Everyone looks like they are twenty-five because they stop aging.

A person's lifetime is recorded on their forearms, and lifetime used as money to buy things. If you go bankrupt, then you die.

Will (Justin Timberlake) is poor and lives with his mom (Olivia Wilde) in a poor "ghetto", and they scrape together enough time to live one day at a time. Will meets a guy in a bar who has 130 years with him, and robbers swoop in to take his time. Will rescues him, and is rewarded with the 130 years. Will runs to a rich area where his new wealth will not stand out, and he meets wealthy time-banker Phillippe Weis (Vincent Karthauser) and his adventurous daughter Sylvia (Amada Siegfried.) When the cops catch Will, Will and Sylvia run. Soon they are robbing the rich, and donating the money to the poor, Robin Hood style. There is a strong class-warfare, social justice message.

Review: In Time has many levels, and the political commentary is what carries it. It is like the science fiction movie version of the Occupy Wall Street Protests. The movie takes the themes of the recent protest movement and plays them in the this allegorical science fiction universe. If you are going for the action movie or science-fiction movie aspects, you may not like it.

Justin Timberlake does a fine job as a caring working-man hero. His mom Olivia Wilde is emotive and has a great death scene. Vincent Karthauser's Phillippe is greasy and completely self justified. Amanda Siegfried was disappointing. A better performance from her could have made this a major movie. Chemistry between Justin and Amanda just was not there. Cillian Murphy does a great job as a cop, but at 35 he looks too old.

The plot is highly conceptual, and the convention of a clock in one's forearm keeping you alive is odd. My wife found the whole clock/timebank/time-is-money metaphor too distracting.

Director Andrew Niccol produces some painterly scenes and solid art direction. The soundtrack is OK.

In Time is reasonably entertaining, but the script and its political narrative are the real stars. If you don't like politics, you'll find it dull and preachy.

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Siegfried, Vincent Karthauser

Written and directed by: Andrew Niccol

Rating: 2.5+ stars; It is a two star movie that gets another half because of its ambition. I am glad I saw it. It is a good conversation movie.

More: The robberies that Will and Sylvia do are justified by saying "How many people are killed every day in the ghetto?" This is the kind of rhetoric that is used to justify terrorism, so it is a pretty dangerous argument. Will and Sylvia shoot people as they steal time, and while they don't they kill civilians, this is getting close to terrorism.

Even more: I have described the film's message in terms of social justice and politics, but it could just as easily be described in terms of anarchy and revolution. Ideas that are more dangerous.

I wonder how thin is the veneer of civilization in the US, and how far underneath is anarchy.

Melancholia

2011-10-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

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Plot: The movie starts with a (slow motion) visual poem that ends with planets colliding. When the live action starts, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is heading to her own wedding reception at her sister Clair (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband's (Kiefer Sutherland) huge estate. They can't get the wedding because their huge limo can't drive the serpentine roads to the house, so they arrive late. She is easily distracted and tired, and spends time outside looking at the stars, upstairs taking a bath, and otherwise lounging. Afterwards, they realize a planet (Melancholia) may hit the earth, and end all life. Those who know the planet is going to hit commit suicide, but others lie to themselves saying it will miss. Clair becomes more devoted to her young son.

Review: I had a really good attitude when I started watching, and I wanted to like this movie. I saw the opening visual poem, and I said -- look at all the pretty barely moving photos -- how artistic! When the limo got stuck on the road, I said, "What a great metaphor for society!" At the wedding reception, I thought that the incomprehensible weirdness must be leading somewhere, but it was just leading to the end of the world.

However, the slow pacing was just too much. I got tired of watching the little that was happening, happen so slowly. Soon I was dozing off. I missed a few suicides.

When I woke up, Justine was depressed and unable to care for herself, and Clair was trying to help her.

This is an intelligent script with some clever metaphors that are thought provoking. The film dealt with death and personal destruction. It says that it is best to help each other by lying to each other. Not uplifting. (See "Even More" section below for more ideas on the meaning of the movie.)

Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg give great performances. The others are forgettable, except child actor Cameron Spurr, who is bad. The visuals are generally good, and tell the story better than the words.

This ambitious movie could have been so much better, because sad movies don't need to be glacially slow.

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland

Written and directed by: Lars von Trier

Rating: 2.5 stars: A dreary and sleepy movie experience that I don't recommend, but it is thought-provoking, and well-made. It should be rated lower since it is so hard to watch. It should be higher because it is so fun to talk about.

More: I wonder how the gravity would change if another planet would hit the earth. I wonder if people would become weightless in the end. How would you film that?

Even More: Maybe Melancholia is not really about death, but actually is about depression. It is about how lying to oneself is necessary to keep functioning. People who fail to lie, kill themselves. Living with depression requires some self-deception and other people to help.

Yet More: We saw Melancholia on pay-per-view prior to theatrical release. I wonder if watching new films on TV will catch on?

Ides of March

2011-10-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is a spokesman for presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney,) and they are trying to win the Ohio primary against a rival campaign led by campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti.) Campaign staffers are sleeping around, and the higher ups are leaking to the press and making shady deals. There is a surprise twist that drives more dirty dealing that leads to the conclusion.

Review: Ides of March is a workmanlike film with a few good scenes. It is interesting but not fun or good or merit-worthy. The message seems to be that everyone in politics is a jerk, and it could lead to a new low in voter turnout.

One would think that director Clooney was trying to promote liberal policies since Morris/Clooney is always giving punchy speechs promoting these policies.

The best part of the movie were the Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti scenes. Some of their dialog was excellent, but they are not in the film enough. Instead we get policy speeches from Morris/Clooney and soap opera from Myers/Gosling & Molly Stearns/Evan Rachel Wood. Most of the plot is too predictable to be interesting. The election drama was just not suspenseful -- I would rather have watched the news.

As the movie goes through its plot twist, Ryan Gosling stops acting and turns into same wooden actor we saw in The Driver. I don't get that -- he seems engaging early in the film. It is like tough guys don't smile, or perhaps that he sold his soul somewhere.

There were 1-2 scenes with creative cinematography, especially the confrontation in the kitchen. The soundtrack was very dull.

Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei

Directed by: George Clooney

Source: Based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon. The play was based on the Howard Dean campaign.

Rating: 2.0 stars: - disappointing the reviews were so good.

More: Can anyone figure out why this was called Ides of March?

50/50

2011-10-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 28 and he gets spinal cancer right at the beginning of the movie. 50/50 is his chance of dying. His best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) his Mom (Anjelica Huston,) and his girl friend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) try to help as he starts chemotherapy. Soon he meets cute counselor Katherine (Anna Kendrick,) and they flirt as they talk about his feelings.

Review: 50/50 is 50% medical drama and 50% comedy alternately Bro-mance and Rom-Com. Most of the actual jokes are delivered by Seth Rogen who plays a larger-then-life best friend who is obsessed with sex and getting high. Rachael and Katherine are the Rom-Com girls who are perky & cute because of the dialog and facial acting.

The movie is more about being sick than about dying with hospital scenes and getting bald being prominent There are some scenes with older cancer payments that address preparations for death. The film's advice on threat of death is to get high and scream.

The performances were all great especially Howard, Kendrick, Gordon-Levitt. Rogen is a bit of a cartoon character, and Huston did not have a big part. Perhaps the dog could have played a bigger role in consoling Adam.

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

Directed by: Jonathan Levine; produced & written by Will Reiser; Will Reiser is a cancer survivor.

Rating: 3.0 stars: Engaging and entertaining, but not inspiring. It is thought-provoking, and the characters are well done. It is worthwhile, but you can't expect a movie about cancer to be fun-to-watch.

More: Everytime I saw Katherine and Adam, I kept thinking that the ethics board would not like what they were doing.

Even more: Writing a good comedy about death instead of about being sick is hard. When I went to the theater I was hoping for a more ambitious film, but this was still good.

Moneyball

2011-09-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is general manager for the relatively poor Oakland A's, and he hires chubby statistics geek Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to help remake the team on a limited budget. Peter and Billy use obscure statistics to trade for cheap, unconventional players, and trade away their stars. Manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and everyone else is skeptical. There is a sub-plot with Billy confiding with his daughter Casey (Kerris Dorsey.)

Review: Top story telling turns this unlikely plot into a tense, feel-good drama. I liked this movie a lot once it got moving. The characters are engaging, and the story has built-in drama. There is enough development of Billy's homelife to get into his head, and enough baseball to provide drama. Predictably the A's lose and then start winning, and director Bennett Miller creates all the suspense he can.

The performances are all good, and the directing is snappy. Moneyball starts slowly, but the characters get more involved and the dialog gets better. Only great writing and directing could make a winner out of such an unlikely story. A best adapted screenplay Oscar should be in the bag already. I'd like to see an Oscar nomination for Brad.

The visuals are strong, and twelve-year old Kerris Dorsey's song was great, but the rest of the soundtrack was forgettable.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Kerris Dorsy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Rating: 4.0 stars: A strong movie, strong performances, and a nice pro-technology message. Best movie of the year so far.

More: Yeah, nerdy geeks with Excel spreadsheets are Heros! Why wouldn't I love this movie?

The Real Billy Beane

Even more: Here is a picture of the real Billy Beane.

Yet more: Someone should apply these principles to running the government.

Drive

2011-09-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

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Plot: "The Driver" (Ryan Gosling) does Hollywood driving stunts, fixes cars, and drives the occasional get-away car. He meets his cute neighbor, Irene (Carey Milligan), but soon her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), comes back from prison. "The Driver" tries to helps them out by helping Standard get out of debt by robbing a store, but that does not go well, and soon we are meeting thugs and mob bosses. The violence is brutal and hard to watch, but brief.

Review: Drive is a classy movie with understated dialog and underacting -- all the dialog and emotions are dialed way back. Only the bad guys have emotions everyone else is stony-faced. The under-emoting helps the viewer enter into the experience better, but it does not let the actor show you how to feel, instead, the audience paints the emotions on the blank screens of Gosling and Milligan's faces.

It could not be more different from Fast Five. It is supposed to be an updated Film Noir, although the images are not dark and smoky.

"The Driver," the character, starts out being a regular guy, but as the movie progresses he gets becomes a more stereotyped tough guy and more and more violent. Perhaps this is because of the circumstances he is in, but perhaps we just are getting to know him better. The Driver is like an experimental film since its style is so dominant. The soundtrack is good too.

I was glad to watch it because it is different. On the other hand, different does not make it good.

Cast: Ryan Gossling, Carey Mulligan

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn, based on the book by James Sallis.

Rating: 2.5 stars: I am tempted to give it 3 stars because it was pretty edgy. On the other hand, it was not that fun to watch, and not as engaging as Contagion that also got 2.5 stars. To me the underacting was too great, and there was no social or moral message in the Drive.

More: The character "The Driver" does not have a name; he is always "Driver," or "Kid."

Even More: I like how the only* beverage in the film is water; this fits with the visual minimism. (*I have been corrected, Driver drinks coffee in the diner.)

Yet More: Irene's husbands name is "Standard." "The Driver" is supposed to be the "Deluxe;" check the titles in the soundtrack album.
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Contagion

2011-09-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

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Plot: A woman (Gweneth Paltrow) carries a flu bug from Hong Kong to Minneapolis infecting people on the way and then she and her son dies. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) get quarantined, and his daughter Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron) is distraught. The CDC and WHO jump on the case including CDC Chief Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) and investigators Drs. Meers (Kate Winslet) and Orantes (Marion Contilliard). Meanwhile blogger and busybody Alan (Jude Law) hawks a homeopathic cure.

Review: Contagion is a fast moving story that is always interesting. There are a lot of characters, but the plot is easy to understand, and the biology seems completely plausible.

The best part is that it really could happen, and that makes it a little more scary. The worse part is that we never engage with individual characters. The characters are always in a hurry, and the spreading disease is more important than building the backstory.

One subplot that worked was how daughter Jory couldn't see her boyfriend, but the dance scene was a too saccharine for me. Kate Winslet and Marion Contilliard gave good performances as driven doctors. The cinematography and art direction was uninspired.

Cast: Gwenth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and Marion Contilliard.

Directed by: Steve Soderbergh

Rating: 2.5 stars; it is pushing three stars, but it lacks emotional engagement. It gets points for telling a warning story that might inspire people to stockpile canned goods and ammunition. My DW liked it: because it was interesting and not stupid.

More: I liked the barnyard epilogue at the end. Nicest visuals in the film.

Even more: Those ribbon structures of virus protein binding looked simplified to me.

Crazy, Stupid Love

2011-09-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Emily (Julianne Moore) is divorcing Cal (Steve Carrell,) and Cal tries to bounce back by hitting the bar scene. Cal meets Lady's Man and pick-up artist Jacob (Ryan Gosling,) who tutors him on picking up girls at the bar including a make-over. Meantime Cal's son (Jonah Bobo) is hitting on his babysitter (Analeigh Tipton.)

Review: The divorce happens right at the beginning, and basic story is Cal learning how to pick up girls from Jacob, and this plot line is entertaining. Cal is not believable at all, but Ryan Gosling's Jacob is the best character in the movie, and they have good rapport.

The plot twist with the likeable Emma Stone is a plus too.

On the negative side, Julianne Moore was a nothing for the whole film. The chemistry between Cal and Emma is just not there, and that is why this movie fails.

There is an elaborate subplot around the babysitter, and this is cute. It sets up the best scene in the movie where the whole cast meets at Cal's old house, and all the secret relationships are revealed -- pretty funny.

There were some interminable parts too. The scene with the speech to middle school was so awful. I wished the earth would open and swallow me up, so I could get away. Bad. The ending was terrible too.

Cast: Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Rating: 1.5 stars; Just not very fun to watch, not very funny, with characters that I don't care about.

More: This is really a buddy picture between two guys. It looks like a romantic comedy, but it isn't a love story.

The Debt

2011-09-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

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Plot: In the sixties, three Mossad agents attempt to abduct a former Nazi Doctor. It does not go as planned, and this leads to the movie's surprise, which is revealed in flashback by the older versions of the characters.

Review: The Debt is sloppy and fuzzy -- meaning the pacing and editing is sloppy, and the images and cinematography are dull and fuzzy. The younger characters are not engaging, and the older characters mostly sit around and talk about being young -- except for the closing scenes, which pick up a little.

The Debt takes itself very seriously. The film should have shown how evil the Nazi doctor's crimes were to motivate how badly the secret agents treat the poor doctor as they beat-up and maltreat him.

There were no smiles in the whole film except the kids playing. No love-making, just sex to relieve the mental stress and boredom.

Cast: Helen Merrin, Jessica Chastain, Tom Wilkinson, Sam Worthington

Directed by: John Madden

Rating: 1.5 stars: The tracking down Nazis plot has been done before and better. Depressing to watch, and there is no uplifting moral message at the end.

More: This seems to be a fictional story. There does not seem to have been a real Nazi doctor hiding under the name of Vogel.

Even More: The Nazi doctors did some terrible stuff.

The Help

2011-08-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

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Plot: In the early 1960's the civil rights movement is just starting, and college grad Skeeter (Emma Stone) moves back to Jackson, Mississippi. She wants to write a magazine feature about black women who work as maids. The maids are not paid well or treated well, while segregation and discrimination are wide-spread. After a long time Skeeter recruits Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minney (Octavia Spencer) to tell their stories for her book. The most interesting part of the movie is the dynamics between the housewives who employ the maids like Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) with each other and with the maids.

Review: Without over-analyzing the movie, it is a good story, and interesting through out. It is easy to sympathize with Aibileen and Minney about their conditions, and with Skeeter in her efforts to write about them. It is also interesting to watch how tough and mean the housewives are.

If I think about the movie too much, then I'll nitpick about dialog that sounds like 21st Century words pasted in the 1960's mouths of the characters. Of course, Mad Men is no different. The white housewives are the villains of the movie, and they are wrenches. Some of that is for comedy, and the comedy conflicts with the documentary aspect of the film.

I expected the movie to be a lot preachier about race relations, but I didn't think it was a problem. It was a good movie with a moral message that did not seem too simple or overbearing.

I thought the performances were strong, and Emma, Viola and Octavia all had a few good scenes. I am not sure we have a best actress Oscar here, but The Help should get a SAG for best ensemble cast. The group of actresses had great chemistry. That is a tribute to the directing too.

Cast: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard

Directed by: Tate Taylor

Rating: 3.0 stars: pretty fun to watch and well-acted with a good moral message.

More: Here is a YouTube video about making the film in Jackson, and especially the old cars. I really liked the shiny old cars.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-08-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) develops a brain drug that makes chimps smart, and also helps Alzheimer's patents like his Dad (John Lithgow.) After a lab accident, Will ends up with a baby chimp named Caesar, who is un-naturally smart. When Caesar is grown, he gets in a fight and brought to a primate shelter. The shelter was not counting on a genius inmate, and soon everything is upside down.

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes starts fast and is tightly written. The monkey drama is not stupid and gross like it might have been with non-CGI monkeys. The animation and the emotion of the apes is strong. Happily they don't talk much.

James Franco delivers his lines believably, and tries to be a sensible bridge between all the crazy people and animals. Tom Felton plays a twisted animal keeper perhaps too convincingly.

I liked the virus-based plot that neatly and believably sets up the ending.

The monkeys are cast as an oppressed minority until the end when they become more like little King Kongs. Helping them get fair and humane treatment just leads to disaster, which is not a happy message for today's oppressed minorities, and opposite from the message of the original films. Perhaps the film makers think this is an enlighten age without those problems.

This movie is more like Frankenstein or Jurassic Park with a message of not messing with Mother Nature. The real villain is the evil drug company rushing the genetic engineering. Being pro-genetic engineering myself, I think this is scaring the public from necessary and helpful bio-engineered crops and animals.

Cast: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3.0 stars: maybe not quite three stars, but it was definitely fun to watch. Much better than expected.

More: I did pick up on the Mars colonization mission on the news. Clearly the humans from Mars are going to show up in the sequel.

Even More: Great CGI characters except for the fight scenes.

Cowboys and Aliens

2011-08-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Jake Lonergran (Daniel Craig) wakes up in a desert with a fancy bracelet welded to his wrist. Soon he beats up some guys, steals their stuff, and heads to town. In the town, he gets arrested, just when he is getting set away, rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) comes to settle an old score with him. Immediately alien fighter jets strafe the town with missles, and fly back to abduct townspeople. Lonergran and Dolarhyde team up to track the aliens down and get their family members back. Pistol-packing Ella Swenson rides along, but soon we see she has a backstory with the aliens. The cowboys recruit a whole posse including crooks and Native Americans to ride on the alien camp.

Review: Cowboys movies are a stereotype genre, and these cowboys play the stylized tough guys and stoic heros from a thousand old movies. Newer action movies have show more realistic emotions, but Lonergran and Dolarhyde are retro cowboys. The aliens are really just monsters -- we could have had the same plot with dinosaurs or King Kong.

The stoic heros make the movie drier than I like, but it is truer to the style of the genre. Truth is that I don't like cowboy movies. More chemistry between the characters would have made the end scenes better too. I am a Sci-Fi fan, so I would have liked aliens that we could talk to, not just ugly killing machines.

I thought Daniel Craig made a great cowboy -- he definitely has the look, and he does a great silent stoic cowboy. We see some of Harrison Ford's great facial acting, but most of the time he is being a hard-ass. Olivia Wilde has a fun role where she is not what she seems, and is more modern than the other characters.

The movie could have used more fun. It was always trying to build dark tension, and the characters seldom smiled, and were too serious to joke.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde.

Directed by: John Favreau

Rating: 2.5 stars: more interesting than fun. Less than the sum of the parts. Perhaps it should be 2 stars.

More: I would have liked to see the Cowboys react with a little more irrational fear when the alien fighter planes fly over the first time. When the person walks out of the fire, someone should have thought it was an angel/ghost/devil. The movie would have been more fun with some lightness like that.

Even More: Are the aliens are an allegory for the immigration of Mexicans into the US? No, this is just a Monster movie with cowboys.

Yet More: I had to roll my eyes when I saw that the main character's name is spelled "Lonergan," which looks so much like "Lone Ranger." "Dolarhyde" is not subtle either.

Captain America: the First Avenger

2011-07-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Skinny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wants to join the Army to fight Hitler, but he is too skinny and sick. An army doctor (Stanley Tucci) and cute British spy Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) enlist him in a super soldier program, and soon he is bigger, stronger, and Captain America. Eventually he is in Germany battling rogue Nazi Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) who soon becomes arch-villain Red Skull. In the army Steve Rogers works for Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) trying to keep Red Skull from destroying the world.

Review: Captain America is refreshingly different from recent super hero movies because it is about a regular guys with modest super-powers, and because Captain America's over-arching patriotism was built-into his personality and not added later.

The film has cool art-deco designs especially for the uniforms and the planes. I like that early twentieth century 'modern' styling. The special effect of having Chris Evans head somehow on a skinny short guy's body was flawless, and very effective. Similarly, Hugo Weaving's head somehow did not have a nose. I'd like to see the making of the movie video. The art direction was very good throughout; I really liked Red Skull in his black leather uniform strutting around his HQ making threats.

The best scenes were with Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving. I did not care for Hayley Atwell's Agent Carter. I did not see the chemistry with Chris Evans. Evans did a good job with his skinny guy and his super-hero personalities.

Cast: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Rating: 2.5 stars: Nice, but lacked a sense of fun.

More: Having Stark from the Ironman series in this movie was a nice touch. I like how he evoked Howard Hughes.

Friends With Benefits

2011-07-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Jamie (Mila Kunis) is a headhunter and she recruits Dylan (Justin Timberlake) to Manhattan for a job interview. He gets the job, and Jamie and Dylan become friends They starting hanging out and afterwhile they start having sex too. But that is too simple, so they start falling for each other. Soon Dylan takes Jamie to meet the family, and Jamie's hippy mom (Patricia Clarkson) shows up.

Review: Less than the sum of its parts. Friends with Benefits has some likeable actors and some clever jokes, but the first part of the movie is forced and tense not fun. The second part relaxes, but the plot become more sitcom when the parents arrive.

The sex scenes are especially un-natural and odd. The dialog during sex is clever and snappy, but it does not fit the rushed sex they are having -- making the whole thing weird. This sex is supposed to be emotionless and "like playing tennis," but it is worse than that.

There are some good things. Mila and Justin are likeable and cute, plus the dialog is pretty witty. I liked how Justin gets goofy sometimes and sings. Woody Harrelson plays a super gay GQ writer, and he is the great -- the funniest guy in the movie. I liked the art direction: the framed art and the all the video screens were pretty cool.

The movie does not have a regular soundtrack, and I wonder if music would have helped the mood. They spoofed other romantic comedies' soundtrack. Justin should have sung more.

The sex without a relationship theme was done better in January's No Strings Attached, with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kuscher. Here is a funny mash-up of the trailers. Natalie is a better actress than Mila, but Justin is a better actor than Ashton.

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis

Directed by: Will Glick

Rating: 2.0 stars: Less than the sum of the parts

More: Interesting how they carried some jokes through the movie, like sneezing, not wearing pants, and flash mobs.

Even more: Flash mobs are so 2003; not new and trendy.

Yet more: There is no way there would be bad cell reception on the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

2011-07-17T04:11:00.000-07:00

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Plot: The finale of the Harry Potter series with the ultimate battle between Harry and Voldemort including a big battle scene at Hogwart's.

Review: Deathly Hallows 2 is an energetic and satisfying conclusion to the epic series that has magic and personality. The final movie has the story line and characters of the previous seven movies to set up a grand conclusion, and we enjoy the climax. People not already familiar with the story should stay home.

I enjoyed seeing Hermione and Ron struggling with evil enchantments, and then kissing when they succeed. We like seeing Neville overcoming people's expectations of him. We like seeing McGonagall beat Snape in a duel.

The visuals are good and provoke the feeling of a epic. The special effects are flawless and not noticeable. The dragon and the giants are particularly good.

The main actors continue to do a fine job, but not exceptional. Helena Bonham Carter is exceptional though, especially when she plays Hermione. I would like to have seen some emotion from Ralph Fiennes' Voldermort besides rage. Even though Voldemort has a big back story, he seems like a monolithic bad guy.

Every movie has not been great in this series, but this is one of the best. Probably one of the year's top ten.

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman

Directed by: David Yates; based on the book by J.K. Rowling

Rating: 3.5 stars; because it was so fun to watch. This movie does take on the topic of death, but not to the extent the book does. It is an Action-Adventure movie without commentary on the meaning of life, as was there in the last book.

More: Why are the Malfoys shown running away from the castle at the end. Is this the seed of sequel?

Even more: I want to see it again, but this time in 3D.

Horrible Bosses

2011-07-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Three guys hate their bosses and rather than quit they decide to murder their bosses.

Review: The core unredeemable problem with Horrible Bosses is that ORIGINALLY our heros Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) are normal guys putting up with horrible mean bosses -- at first we like them and sympathize. BUT as murderer plotters they stop being normal humans and become unlikeable asses themselves. It is not funny to kill people. Even with goofy comic antics -- it just is not funny to kill people.

The set-up scenes of horrible office life are uneven -- only the Jennifer Aniston scenes are any good. The vast middle of the movie is so stupid that it is hard to watch. The ending is a little better -- making the overall movie bearable. When it is working, Horrible Bosses is like Hot Tub Time Machine with stupid boy jokes around a dumb premise, but Hot Tub Time Machine, was 5X better.

Cast: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey

Directed by: Seth Gordon

Rating: 1.5 stars (Wanted to leave during the middle.)

More: I have seen several news pieces inspired by this movie on handling horrible bosses in real life. The news pieces were more interesting than the movie.

The Tree of Life

2011-07-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

All these pictures are in the movie, so you won't be surprised that a story about

children has nature and space scenes.

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Plot, to the extent there is a plot: A woman (Jessica Chastain) finds out her son died. The life of the dead boy is retold in flashback. There are long sequences of wildlife and animations of astronomy to illustrate spiritual themes.

Review: Most important, this is not really a movie. It is a visual poem. It shows pictures, plays music, and whispers dialog to make people think and perhaps feel. For example the movie made me feel sleepy. Also bored. I just can't recommend a movie that I found as un-endurable as this.

There were good things in the movie. There were some great photographic shots especially of architecture, and some wonderful nature scenes.

The movie gets points for taking on big issues -- really the biggest ones about life and death, loss, children and parents. It dances around spirituality, but I don't think it says anything about spirituality, but it might provide a reason to talk about it.

There are lots of things to talk about, for example was Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) a realistic 1960's parent, or an idealized one in that he was always talking about love and hugging his kids. Another example is what was the visual bumper that divided the sequences.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Sean Penn

Written and directed by: Terrence Malick

Rating: 1.5 stars; I left he theater thinking that this was an unpleasant experience, and I wasted four hours (because of the long drive to the theater.) However, the film does provide the starting point for good conversation, and it grapples with big issues. I only recommend this to grieving parents and film students.

If I were rating a non-movie piece of visual art or "visual poems", then this would rate higher.

More: At the theater I saw the film at (Main Art Theater in Royal Oak, Michigan,) the colors were washed out and gray. I think that the photography was probably adequate but the theater's equipment was not up to standard.

Yet More: My wife thinks I am a troglodyte for giving a poor rating to a film that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but I am not going to sell out and give a higher rating than the movie deserves.

Still More: The art house movie circuit needs better films than this. If the big award winners are this hard to watch, who will want to come back?

X-Men: First Class

2011-06-26T03:57:00.000-07:00

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Plot: This prequel is the origin story of Professor X/ Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and villain Magneto/Erik Lehnsheer (Michael Fassbender). Erik is a holocaust survivor, and he is hunting down Nazis war criminals, and especially Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a scientist who killed his mother. Shaw is busy trying to stage the Cuban missile crisis believing the radiation following a nuclear war would create millions of mutant people. Charles, Erik and the CIA work together to stop Shaw.

Review: Origin stories are the most interesting part of super hero movies, and that is true here. We are familiar with the characters, and it is interesting to see them as freaky people turning into superheros.

Throughout there is a theme of "I need to accept myself and my differences -- other people need to accept this too." When Stan Lee wrote these stories in 1963, I am sure it was an allegory for race, and it still is, but today the theme of accepting diversity applies even more widely. X-Men teaches that differences are desirable gifts, which is good for young people who are certain that their differences make them rejects.

The second theme is balance between selfish concern for the clan and humanitarian concern for the whole society. This conflict plays out with Charles against both Shaw and Erik.

The best part is the group acting among the different minor superheros. Janes McAvoy plays Charles with a good balance of patrician wisdom and uncertainty. Kevin Bacon owns the screen during his brief scenes. The special effects are up to standard, however they did a nice job with Mystique's shape shifting, and how Angel could fly on her dragonfly wings.

Most of the superhero powers are ridiculous; they seem less ridiculous because they are familiar. The superhero battle scenes were more strange than cool, and they broke up the flow of the movie. It is not that interesting watching someone wield magnetic force. The final battle did not seem climatic or dramatic or fun.

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

Rating: 2.5 stars; An interesting and entertaining movie, but not that fun to watch.

More:

Hank McCoy: You have no idea what I'd give to feel...
Raven Darkholme: Normal.

Super 8

2011-06-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

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Plot: I can't tell the story without a SPOILER, so you probably want to skip this section if you have not seen the movie.

Back in 1979, 14 year olds Joe (Joel Courtney) and his friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) are making a zombie movie on Super 8 film. They recruit their friends, and invite their classmate Alice (Elle Fanning) to help too. As they are filming, there is a train crash, and something escapes from the train. The air force troops in to hide the incident, while the kids try to figure out what happened and also try to finish their movie. Joe's father hates Alice's father, and Romeo and Juliet style Joe falls for Alice.

Review: Super 8 is fun to watch, and that is why I liked this movie. The kids are crowd pleasers, and the suspenseful story kept me tuned in. The moving making premise keeps the characters running around, while the monster/air force story develops in the background, rather like the TV show Lost.

I liked all the kid's performances, but Joel Courtney is great and Elle Fanning deserves a supporting actress nomination. The rehearsal at the rail station should be required in acting school.

The directing is playful and suspenseful; the story is well-crafted to reveal plot changes gradually so they seem more to fit. At the end this is a monster movie, so it is going to be a little far fetched at the end. There is some humor and some good special effects. I can forgive the slightly sappy ending.

The movie is a lot like Lost meets ET.

Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning

Written and directed by: J.J Abrams, who also made the TV series Lost. The film was produced by Steven Spielberg, and the film feels a lot like ET.

Rating: 3.5 stars;

More: Stay for the Super 8 movie shown during the credits.

Even More: This film could be a classic.

Yet More: Super 8 needs better marketing, the trailer and poster just look dull. The film is better than its advertising.

Midnight in Paris

2011-06-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Writer Gil (Owen Wilson) is visiting Paris with his finance Inez (Rachel McAdams); he loves Paris and she doesn't. He is romantic and dreams about the writers and artists of 1920's Paris, and then one midnight he magically goes there. Gil travels back and forth between the present and the past, meeting famous artists and writers as if he were Forrest Gump.

Review: This is an novelty movie about art and literature delivered in a time-traveling plot. I liked parts - especially the dialog, and I did not like parts -- especially the slow pacing and the awful, awful, awful soundtrack.

I knew of most of these authors and artists, but did not know details about them. I think literature professors would like the movie more than me.

I really liked Ernest Hemingway -- he was pretty funny, and very well played by Corey Stoll. Owen Wilson was a great choice because he "reads" like a 21st century man even when he is in these old time scenes.

The movie gets credit for taking on big issues like what does nostalgia mean, and are the good old days really that good. On the other hand, it is not that fun to watch. The characters exist to play out the nostalgia theme, and aren't very interesting. The comedy is spotty, and overall the movie is not that fun. Good dialog can't get you that far.

I am glad that I saw it -- partially to communicate to our local megaplex that they need to bring more art movies to our theater. I also have seen many Woody Allen movies -- I am an Allen fan. I don't think that makes this movie better; just that no one else makes movies quite like this.

Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams

Directed by: Woody Allen

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: Seriously the soundtrack is bad -- awful discordant horns. The opening sequence, which is nearly endless tourist shots of Paris, nearly drove me to X-Men.

The Hangover 2

2011-05-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

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Plot: The plot is the same as Hangover I, but this time in Bangkok. One day before Stu's (Ed Helms) wedding, our heros get drunk, wake up in a strange hotel room, and can't find the bride's brother. They spend the next day retracing their steps and learning about their twisted adventures with crazy friend Mr. Chow (Ken Joeng.)

Review:  If you liked the first movie, you'll like this movie. It is not so much a sequel as it is another two hours of the first movie. The whole gag of the first movie is re-run, this time in Bangkok.

I can't resist comparing the two movies. The second movie has the advantage of the foreignness of Thailand instead of Las Vegas schtick. The Thai father-in-law was pretty funny too. And no one will ever forget one particular penis joke.

The first movie had more looniness, especially visual nuttiness -- I liked the tiger and the chicken a lot.

Hangover 2 has a clever formula for appealing to men and women. The guys are always trying to get back to their wives and girlfriends, and the female part of the audience like that. The guys like the bawdy humor and party jokes. I checked out the ratings on imdb, and strangely women like Hangover 2 more than men, 7.4 to 7.2. All the penises may help that too.

Finally Hangover 2 is not boring for a second. It has likable characters, and its is a good night at the movies.

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Rating: 2.5 stars

More:  Ken Jeong, who played the cocaine-sniffing, boat-owning friend Mr Chow, is from Detroit. According to Wikipedia he was college professor and a physician before becoming a comedian.

Even More: According to the online buzz, Zach Galifianakis's penis is in the closing photos -- I did not notice it . Zach said it was a rubber prop.

Way too much more: Supposedly, Ken Jeong's penis shot was actually his. You will remember that shot was pretty long and detailed. Physician Jeong talks openly about his distinctive physiology.
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Water for Elephants

2011-05-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

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Plot:  Vet student Jacob (Robert Pattinson) joins the circus after his parents die suddenly. He falls in with circus boss August (Christoph Waltz) and his performer-wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). August is under pressure to save the circus from bankruptcy, and he is also brutal and jealous. Water for Elephants becomes a romantic triangle with a depression era circus theme.

Review: Water for Elephants is uneven with a painfully slow introduction. So slow that I was thinking I'd sneak out and watching Ringo.

After Christoph Waltz got in the story it got better. He has such great intensity. Reese did a nice job. I was not thrilled by Robert Pattinson. The sound track was forgettable.

Director Francis Lawrence needs to get prodded with the bull hook to keep the story movie moving. He had a couple good moments: he made raising the circus tent at the beginning seem epic, and he could make Jacob and Marlena kisses and near-kisses so dramatic and evocative.

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz

Directed by: Francis Lawrence, based on the novel by Sara Gruen

Rating: 2.0 stars - a very slow start and a smattering of good performances

More: Animal lovers will like this movie. There are great horse and elephant scenes. Although the animals have hard times, the characters are always trying to help them.

Even more: Who knew that circuses were so violent? How many guys got killed?

Top Movies of 2010

2011-05-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

Now that Oscar season is over and Spring is here; it is time to archive my reviews for 2010.

It was a good movie year. I really liked my top picks Black Swan and The Town. Scott Pilgrim vs the World is one I'd like to buy on Blu-Ray though -- very innovative and fun-to-watch. I need to get Inception too, because it is visually so great -- the beginning is slow.

I also liked Kick-Ass a lot in reflection about it -- I should have given it another half star.

Over rated movies that I don't want to see again are The Social Network and True Grit -- sometimes I get carried away by critical praise. Yeah the acting was good, but sometimes unremarkable movies need to be taken down.

4.0 Black Swan
4.0 The Town
3.5 The Social Network
3.5 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3.5 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
3.5 Toy Story 3
3.5 The Ghost Writer
3.5- The Kids Are All Right
3.0+ Inception
3.0 True Grit
3.0 Iron Man 2
3.0 Kick-Ass
3.0 Despicable Me
3.0 Alice in Wonderland
3.0 Edge of Darkness
3.0 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Bridesmaids

2011-05-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married and best-friend Anne (Kristen Wiig) is the maid-of-honor. Annie is jealous of rich, pretty, new friend Helen (Rose Byrne.) Their rivalry starts with toasts, continues enroute to the bachelorette party, and at the shower. Anne gets crazier and crazier, but she makes some new friends, fellow bridesmaid Megan and a cute cop.

Review: Bridesmaids is a very funny movie. The funniest movie so far this year. It is like Mean Girls -- most of the humor is about catty relationships. Kristen Wiig does a great job exaggerating her emotions in these scenes that happen all the time, but not bigger than life as they do in this movie. Unlike Mean Girls, it is not all sitcom humor, Mean Girls has regular jokes and visual gags too.

The writing is clever, especially since this movie is bridging different genres. Maya Rudolph does a great job - very engaging and likable; and I usually did not like her on SNL, but she was great here.

The best two scenes were when Annie, at her jewelry store job, talks customers out of buying engagement rings and friendship necklaces because of her own issues. The second scene with the high school girl is a reason to buy the Blu-Ray.

There is a scene at the engagement party which is cringe-worthy as Annie and Helen embarrass each other giving tributes. Funny and memorable; although embarrassingly hard-to-watch.

A special note is needed for Melissa McCarthy who plays the heavy butch bridesmaid. She steals every scene she is in, and she has great intensity.

Cast: Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph

Directed by: Paul Feig; Written by Kristin Wiig and Anne Mumolo

Rating: 3.5 stars. The rating revolves around two things, first it was fun to watch throughout, and second it had a serious side concerning how friends get along with each other. This movie is not going to get any Oscar nominations, although Kristen Wiig may deserve one.

More: The best thing I want to say about Bridesmaids is that I want to buy the Blu-Ray when it comes out.

Even more: Great shots of Milwaukee

Yet more: Bridesmaids is my highest rated comedy in two years.

Thor (2D)

2011-05-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Oden (Anthony Hopkins) gets mad at Thor (Chris Hemsworth) because of disobedience, and banishes him to Earth, where he crash lands. Cute scientist Jane (Natalie Portman) finds him, and gives him jeans and a T-shirt to wear, but soon they go off in search of his magic hammer. Meanwhile Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) claims the throne and sends a Destroyer to kill Thor. Action movie action follows.

Review: The Thor scenes on earth with Natalie Portman and especially wise-cracking Darcy (Kat Dennings) are entertaining -- the movie has fun with the comicbook stereotypes by having Darcy befuddle Thor with 2011 tech. The god comes to earth and is pretty clueless. Chris Hemsworth did a nice job with the part, and Natalie Portman was back to top form.

I was less entertained by the in-fighting of the gods on Asgard, and the fighting with the ice-people was dull. I did not like the blue animated ice King Laufey or evil brother Loki. Guardian Heimdall (Idris Elba) was pretty cool, and I'd like to see some sub-plots with him.

So the good parts were the low tech talking scenes, and the bad parts were the expensive fighting scenes and palace scenes.

The Destroyer battle in the earthtown was pretty scary -- it was the scariest monster scene I have seen in a while. I liked that part, and I was pretty into it.

The music was dull, and the art direction was spotty.

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh, based on the comic book by Stan Lee, et al.

Rating: 2.5 stars; pretty fun to watch, but un-even.

More: It looks like Jane/Natalie Portman is coming to Asgard in the sequel.

Fast Five (Fast and Furious Five)

2011-04-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Dominic (Vin Diesel) is a fugitive hiding in Brasil with his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and her boyfriend Brian (Paul Walker). Soon they need money, and they start stealing cars. The run afoul of the local gangsters and the US DEA. Soon both are hunting them. The DEA sent super-agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to Rio to catch them. The hatch a scheme to rob the Brasilian Godfather with a big team like in Oceans 11/12/13.

Review: This is a big noisy popcorn movie with lots of good moments many including automobiles, but without a heart. The best part is Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson who are better than most action heros, and they pose and posture. There is a lot of clever tough-guy banter and a few skinny girls to provide distraction and love interests.

There is a lot of cartoon style gunshots and impossible car stunts. People fight and shoot and no one ever bleeds. The movie gets more and more far-fetched as it goes, but that is OK because this is a popcorn movie so shut up and watch. Stay home if that is going to be a problem.

While it has good moments the overall effect is not that inspiring. I liked some of the people, but basically they are just thieves who kill people for the money. The biggest problem is that the director seems to think we know these people already, and the characters are re-living some scenes from the earlier movies. That is why most movie series don't make it to five.

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson

Directed by: Justin Lin

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: I liked the closing credit song and the stylized race scene. The song is How We Roll by Don Omar and other artists.

2011 Has Solid High Concept Movies

2011-04-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have given five 3.0 ratings this year, and no ratings higher than that. It bothers me that I can't differentiate between these movies which were all enjoyable, but all flawed.

It makes me think that I should adopt a ten point rating system or something.

The five strongest movies of 2011 so far are Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code, Hanna, Adjustment Bureau, and Limitless. You can find the reviews below, or on the Top 2011 Movies on the right sidebar.

Of the four movies, which one do I want to see again?

Hanna is the coolest from an action movie sense, and probably the most fun. The beginning scenes in Finland are Oscar worthy, and the overall storybook metaphor provides a good context. The lack of an ending is disturbing, but indie films often lack endings.

Nonetheless all these movies had problems too. Hanna had good problems too. Hanna and Lincoln Lawyer only had good performances from Saoirse Ronan and Matthew McConnehey. Hanna would have had a high rating if the ending would have been stronger too.

Lincoln Lawyer was clever, but at bottom it was just a clever lawyer story -- and there are so many clever lawyer stories. It was a pretty enjoyable movie though.

Source Code was a high concept movie that involved a limited amount of time travel. The story was a little weak in that it showed the same scene over and over, but the strength was the acting. It had good supporting actor performance from Farmiga and Monaghan, but Gyllenhaal was only OK. I also liked the idea of a major character only interacting via a grainy TV. Farmiga is the reason this is a three, otherwise, it is a little weak.

Limitless is probably the most over-rated of this group. The acting was only OK, especially DiNiro. I gave it a high rating because I like the premise of a smart drug, and the issues that it played out. In retrospect, I's probably drop it back.

The villains are pretty dumb in Limitless.

The best part about Lincoln Lawyer was McConaughey, and the flawless exposition of a complicated plot. It falls down because it has no ambition beyond entertainment, and it lacks good supporting actor performances. Lincoln Lawyer is just for fun, and it can't get beyond that.

Adjustment Bureau is like many of the others with supernatural forces, but it engages some big issues like political manipulation, freewill and predestination. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are great, but the film is less than the sum of the parts, and it is just not that fun.

At some point we wonder when is Damon's character David going to give up and get with the program. At the end of the movie, they punt on the big issues and go with the love story, which is fine for a Hollywood movie.

So where does this leave us? Hanna is the strongest, Adjustment Bureau and Lincoln Lawyer are in the middle, and Source Code and Limitless were a little weak.

The Lincoln Lawyer

2011-04-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Mick (Matthew McConaughey) is a scrappy defense lawyer who is hired by Louis Roulet, a rich heir, to defend him against a sexual assault charge. The case is not so simple, and soon Mick is being manipulated by Louis as other murders enter the story.

Review: The Lincoln Lawyer has two things going for it Matthew McConaughey, and a really well written plot. McConaughey has gives Mick presence and depth. He has a low volume understated style that gives him added intensity. The story, based on the book by Michael Connelly, is full of twists and turns. Marisa Tomei is also a highlight.

The soundtrack is good. I will look for some of them on iTunes.

The Lincoln Lawyer does not have any social message, but it is fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing it.

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei and Ryan Phillippe

Directed by: Brad Furman; based on the novel by Michael Connelly

Rating: 3.0+ stars; Almost 3.5, but it is just a little empty. It needed a good solid supporting actor performance.
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More: I don't really believe that most lawyers would let themselves be manipulated like this. Maybe Mick needed the money. I'd think that they'd usually resign.

Even more:!! Spoiler!! How did Mama Roulet get the gun?

Hanna

2011-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a sixteen year old who was raised entirely in a northern forest by her father (Eric Bana). Her father taught her four languages, an encyclopedia of knowledge, and fighting skills. Her father gives her a mission to kill Marissa (Cate Blanchett), who is a CIA spy -- perhaps a rogue spy -- we don't know. When the CIA find her, they lock her up in Morocco, but she kills some people and escapes.

Review: Hanna the character was mysterious and engaging. Hanna the movie has some outstanding images and artfully staged scenes. The chase scenes are really fun -- they are all on foot and with a Chemical Brother's soundtrack .

The movies best scenes are at the beginning in the woods, and the early scenes when she is escaping. There are a lot of scenes of Hanna running, which gives the movie a sense of motion. The later scenes with the adult actors are not engaging. There is a high body count in the later scenes -- almost like video game killing.

Hanna meets a girl her age, Sophie (Jessica Barden), who helps Hanna adjust to the world, and gets her a date. The kissing scene with the boy is priceless. The pillow talk scene is also tops.

Ronan and Blanchett's acting was servicable. Bana was empty and dull. Barden stole her scenes.

The big gapping weakness is the ending, which Hanna simply doesn't have. None of the story lines are resolved. When the ending credits roll, I felt like " Wow a great ride, Why did it end now?"

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett

Directed by: Joe Wright

Rating: 3.0 stars; Would have been 3.5 but there was no ending.

More: "I just missed your heart."

Even More: The forest scenes were in Finland where it was as cold as - 33C/-28F.

Yet More: The Brother's Grimm Amusement Park Scenes are from Spreepark, near Berlin.

Still More: See this interesting speculation on a re-write that is more true to the fairy tale theme.

Source Code

2011-04-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is sent back in time to a bombing incident on a train so he can catch the terrorist. He does not catch the terrorist first try, and he has to do it over and over Groundhog Day style. Eventually we learn that he is working on a military research project. His contact at headquarters is Captain Collen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga,) and most of the dialog is between them over a grainy TV.

On the doomed train, Colter eventually meets the passengers including cuty Christina (Michelle Monaghan) whom he gradually falls for.

Review: Source Code's real strength are the three main actors, Gyllenhaal, Farmiga and Monaghan. Gyllenhaal plays with intensity and a range of emotion unlike many action stars. I loved the awkwardness that Farmiga shows as she explains to Colter what he needs to do; good enough for an Oscar nomination. Monaghan is very likable and does good facial acting.

The repeated scenes are not boringly repetitive unlike similar movies, and director Jones compresses the trips back to keep the story moving.

At the end the movie engages the question whether Colter has any rights -- like the movie RoboCop, the song Iron Man, or countless Star Trek Next Generation episodes.

The movie was enjoyable but not super-fun to watch. It was easy to relate to the peril Coulter was in.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga, Michelle Monaghan

Directed by: Duncan Jones

Rating: 3.0 stars; probably only deserves 2.5, but why not?

More: Nice shots of Chicago

The Tourist

2011-04-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

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Plot: A woman who is apparently married to a criminal fugitive is told to hook up with a tourist on a train to distract police and other criminals from the husband. The movie follows the tourist and the woman as they run from gangsters and MI-6.

Review: The Tourist is highly stylized and and Angelina spends a lot of time posing. It is as much a spoof of spy movies as it is a romantic comedy where the tourist and glamourous girl gradually fall in love. Johny Depp is engaging, although he is too grubby. Angelina could spend less time posing, and more time being likable.

This movie is just for fun.

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt

Directed by: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Rating: 2.5 stars; decent entertainment; not high cinema. I saw it on a plane, and it was decent enough.

More: The ending was fun, but it does not fit with the action from the beginning of the movie.

Paul

2011-03-27T04:27:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are UFO enthusiasts, and while they are touring the USA, and they meet an space alien named Paul (computer animated and voiced by Seth Rogen.) They are chased by three federal agents through small towns and farm houses.

Review: Paul starts out strong. Graeme and Clive are at ComicCon with some interesting banter and amusing jokes. Next we meet Paul, who he speaks in an over-written stoner patter, and he takes them on a road trip.

The movie soars as Graeme gets used to the idea having an alien with them, and Paul does harmless pranks.

They meet bible-believing fundamentalists Ruth (Kristen Wiig) and Moses (John Carroll Lynch) and this sequence has the best dialog and jokes of the movie as Ruth integrates an alien into her world view.

Sadly the movie goes down here from there with low rent car chases, simple-minded sit-com setups, and a dull, sleepy ending. The character of Paul was good initially, but I got tired of him. Paul was ultimately unlikable and I wished he'd hurry up and go away. The end credits were better than the ending scene.

Cast: Simon Pegg, Steve Forest, Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogan (voice only)

Directed by: Greg Mottola

Rating: 2.0 stars; Early the movie was flirting with three stars, but it nose-dives and overall I wish I had seen something else.

More: A highlight was all the references to old science-fiction films. I saw lots of them.

Limitless

2011-03-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) gets a bag of pills from a friend that unlocks his inner potential, and he become widely successful instantly. He gets a job with tycoon Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), and gets back his old girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish.) Sadly the pill has some side effects, and other pill-using people are desperate to get more for themselves.

Review: I like the premise of Limitless, and I'm surprised mental performance drugs arn't more popular. This drug isn't very realistic, but maybe a drug like this will day be available.

I like how the down-and-out Eddie became successful, and then how the implications of his success worked their way through his life.

Bradley Cooper gave a good subtle performance, and the dialog was strong too. The directing was creative. I liked the use of duplicate characters and telescoping camera views to tell the story. The opening telescoping camera sequence is one of the best opening credits I've seen in years. The directing and quick pace made the movie more fun.

I like De Niro, but his character did not make much sense. He does give some good speeches though. Gennady the thug does not make sense either. The bad guys seem just too powerful.

This movie was fun to watch, and although Limitless is just for fun with no deep meaning -- that is OK.

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish

Directed by: Neil Burger, based on the novel Alan Glynn

Rating: 3.0 stars

More: The story is very much like Flowers for Algernon.

Battle: Los Angeles

2011-03-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

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Plot:  Evil space aliens have come to earth with their army, and they are taking over Los Angeles, and other cities, but this movie focuses on one LA-based platoon of Marines and their struggle against the alien invader. Sargent Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) with his platoon rescues some civilians, and then takes them to safety, which turns out to be hard because of the advancing aliens. Once the civilians are safe, Nantz turns his attention to defeating the aliens -- rather like Independence Day, the movie from 1996.

Review: First the good parts, the special effects were pretty good -- way better than Independence Day. Second, the individual soldiers had names and back stories which I liked, but once the battle started the soldiers blurred together -- except for Lieutenant Martenez (Ramon Rodriguez) who is a stereotyped green, wimpy officier that manly Sargent Nantz had to inspire. Third, it is nice to see American soldiers defending America, and finally there is a nice feel-good ending.

The bad parts include the dull middle which seemed like endless rifle battles with nearly indestructible alien soldiers. There was an unendurable scene where Sargent Nantz proved his devotion to his men by reciting their serial numbers from memory while standing nose-to-nose with some poor Marine -- it just went on forever. I actually closed my eyes to get some rest while I waited for it to end. Aaron Eckhart looks like a soldier, but his performance was not good enough to carry the movie. His part was written for classical 'John Wayne' tough guy, and is not a contemporary hero. Finally and most importantly this movie was not fun-to-watch; I can forgive a lot if a film is enjoyable. This movie was dreary.

The real message of Battle: LA is how tough Americans can be when challenged.

Cast:  Aaron Eckhart

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman

Rating: 2.0 stars (maybe less) My wife liked it alot; she even clapped at the end.

More: The invasion occurs in April, but the announcer says Pacific Standard Time -- actually it would be daylight time.

The Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) is running for Senate, but he loses. Before he gives his concession speech he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and they have an immediate cosmic connection -- then he gives a memorable and inspirational speech that canupults him into office the next time. Soon David sees his associates having their memories erased by mysterious men like from Men in Black. Next David mets Harry (Anthony Mackie) and the rest of the Adjustment Bureau, and they tell him to follow the preordained plan -- forget Elise, and stick to politics. David and Elise can't do that, and they fight to save their love against the considerable supernatural powers of the Adjustment Bureau.

Review: This is a clever story about lovers fighting against fate to stay together, and the hand of fate is wielded by guys in suits and hats. Matt Damon is wonderfully likeable, and the 1:1 scenes between Damon and Emily Blunt are emotional and interesting. There was not much dialog between them, and much was about Action Movie dialog about staying ahead of the bad guys. The bad guys are mysterious and powerful, especially as we learn more about the yet more mysterious Chairman.

There are dozens of cameos by newspeople and politicians, which was fun and added realism, but was also distracting. There were great images of New York City throughout -- enough that the producers should be getting paid by the NYC tourist bureau.

The sound track is strong -- I bought three songs when I got home.

The film takes on the big issue of predestination and freewill. Clearly the world of the movie has very limited freewill, and supernatural beings push the world back into plan when it strays. This is interesting in itself, but I am not sure that is being presented as a serious model of how the world really works -- just as the basis for a story. The movie really is about following your heart and doing the right thing.

Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

Written (screen play) and directed by: George Nolfi; Based on the short story by the great Phillip K Dick.

Rating: 3.0 stars; strong performances, good story, enjoyable, but not super fun-to-watch. Good engagement of serious issues.

More: At the end Harry tells us to fight for the sake of free will, and that sounds like good advice -- but I am not sure what that means. I think he means follow your heart.

I Am Number Four

2011-02-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

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Plot: John (Alex Pettyfer,) an alien boy, is hiding on earth from enemies, who are searching for him, and father-like guardian Henry (Timothy Olyphant) is there to help. John, who is 17 years old, decides to blend in at a high school where he meets jock bully Sam (Callan McAuliffe), and cutie Sarah (Dianna Agron.) Soon the evil aliens arrive -- leading to climatic action.

Review: Surprisingly good. #4 starts out with high school bully and nerd action, and it looks an episode of Power Rangers, but the school scenes are just setting up the characters for a snappy conclusion.

The best part is the notion of a young person growing up, and finding out that he is special, and can do things that matter -- in this case flinging aliens like Iron Man does.

The performances were good including the two leads Pettyfer and Agron. Timothy Olyphant had some good lines too. The special effects were low-end, and the aliens looked like they came from Face Off. At times it was hard to get past the make-up, and the strangely normal voice of the evil alien.

The closing fight scenes were very good with simple special effects used well, and the fight scenes were not too long.

Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant

Directed by: DJ Curuso; based on the book by Pitticus Lore (a clever pseudonym for Jobie Hughes and James Frey)

Rating: 2.5 stars; It gets points for funness, but loses points for mindlessness. At first I wanted to give it a 3.0, but the more I think about the less I liked it. This is a move to be enjoyed with popcorn, and is perhaps a guilty pleasure. It has a 2.5 since I'd be embarrassed to have it my 2011 top ten.

More: I want to see Teresa Palmer and Alex Pettyfer kick ass in the sequel.

Even more: Everyone wants a beagle like Benny Kocar.
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Unknown

2011-02-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is in a taxi accident and when he leaves the hospital, another man has assumed his identity, and his wife (January Jones) has forgotten him. He finds the taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger) to help retrace his steps, and soon killers are after both of them.

Review: Unknown starts like a high concept movie with a man whose identity was assumed by someone else, and no one can tell. Just when I decided that maybe this was a Bertolt Brecht story with surrealist idea of identity, the films reveals its true identity as a mindless action movie, and omniscient thugs arrive to start killing people.

There are chase scenes and explosions. Lots of Liam Neeson being outraged.

The plot twists into a pretzel, and the movie ends in a stupid and unsatisfying way. If the ending had been better I might have liked this movie.

Most of the movie fun enough to watch until the end at least. I was not very fond of Liam Neeson, but I liked January Jones.

Cast: Liam Neeson, Duane Kruger, January Jones

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating: 2.0 stars, edging closer to 1.5

More: The German in the movie was pretty easy, and the accent was easy to understand.

The Mechanic

2011-02-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Hired assassin Arthur Bishop (Jason Stathum) is hired to kill one of his friends, and after doing so undertakes to teach the friend's son, Steve (Ben Foster), how to be an assassin because he feels obligated. The two assassinate some guys, and blow up some stuff. Someone double crosses Arthur, then Arthur and Steve hunt that guy down.

Review: This movie was fun to watch while I was watching it. In the theater I was thinking that the violence was stronger than average, and followed the story easily. The killing was bloodless, but the killers were cold-blooded -- killing without morality.

After I left the movie, I started thinking about how little of the movie made sense. All Action movies are like this, but The Mechanic is worse. It glosses over a million details. Some action movies have a who-dun-it element, and it is interesting to follow the twists of the story and guess what will happen -- we don't get that here.

Arthur is far more interested in Steve than any woman. Arthur does not have a girl friend, just a regular prostitute who does not even know his name.

I liked the Jason Statham character, and he is the only likeable character even though he kills people for money. The fact that he was likeable is a tribute to the acting and direction.

There were good quality special effects and good art direction. Bland soundtrack.

There is a homosexual element in the Arthur and Steve relationship and it is made more obvious by the Steve's homosexual bait assassination plot line. [VAGUE SPOILER] That assassin is just like Arthur, and Steve kills him. It foreshadows the end of the movie.

Cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland

Directed by: Simon West; based on the story by Lewis John Carlino (originally filmed in 1972)

Rating: 2.0 stars; Fun to watch; Just accept that most of the action scenes make no sense. Probably deserves to be 1.5 stars based on merit, but it was enjoyable anyway.

More: I like the cool looking tube amplifier. It looks cool even though anyone who prefers tubes to transistors must be an idiot. It is like a Steam-Punk Music system.

No way would I want to lovingly clean dust off vinyl records before I played music.

Yes, I know tubes are different because they distort more, why would want distortion to listen to classical? Maybe for distortion guitar rock or electrified Pop, but I don't get tubes for classical.

No Strings Attached

2011-01-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kuscher) were childhood friends, and then meet as adults. Soon they are regularly hooking up for sex, and agree to just be friends. They even break-up, and see other people to create some distance. But one thing leads to another, and soon No Strings Attached is off to romantic comedy utopia.

Review: The premise of No Strings Attached is two busy adults having sex regularly with no strings attached -- or no other commitments. This weak premise is not enough to build a movie around, but three things save it , supporting characters, sex-talk dialog, and Natalie Portman's acting.

The minor characters included alternate love interests for both Emma and Adam, the best of which is Lucy played by Lake Bell - she was so funny as the nerdy, artsy assistant and Adams 2nd love interest. Kevin Kline as Adam's father has some interesting sitcom scenes.

There are a lot of jokes that are only funny because of their vulgarity and the frank way that the characters deliver them. Some were pretty funny, and none were actually offensive to me. The movie affects coolness by how frank and open it is about sex.

I liked Natalie Portman a lot in Black Swan, and she is good here in a much different role. We occasionally see the great facial acting we saw in Black Swan.

The film is actually a romantic comedy, but it takes a while to realize that. This makes the movie more likable since for a while we don't know where it is going.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kuscher, Kevin Kline, Lake Bell

Directed by: Ivan Reitman, who has a cameo as the director of the Glee-like TV show within the movie

Rating: 2.5 stars; Probably would be 2.0 if I were more objective. It was surprisingly good based on the low expectations that I had going in.

More: I was sure that No Strings Attached was written by a man, and that Emma -- the female sex fiend hottie -- was just a male writer trying to projecting the girl he would be if he were a girl -- that is actually a guy in a girl's body. It turns out that the real writers are two people, a woman and a man, Elizabeth Merriweather and co-author Mike Samonek. Of course, the character Adam is a writer, so he is clearly channelling one or both of them.

Tron: Legacy

2011-01-23T04:35:00.000-08:00

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Plot: A young man enters a computer world where his father was imprisoned years before, and battles computerized enemies to escape, with a girl he met there, to the real world.

Review: It is interesting to think about what it is like to live in a mathematical computer world, and Tron imagines a story there -- with a plot line and villains. The story only makes sense in a Science Fiction way, but it keeps our characters moving. There is a strong good guy/bad guy element to the story. Very little time is spent on the motivation for the villains.

The visuals are interesting, much better than the trailer, which did not do a good job of showing off some of the art direction. There were a few excellent scenes like Zeus' disco, and some of the driving sequences.

It is escapist fun, and I don't this there is a central morale, although one could write a thesis on all the threads of meaning. Clearly the importance of the father/son relationship was there, and a basic battle between organic life and computerized perfection. Although organic life is the good side, the movie's Sci-Fi fanbase are going be rooting for the computer. There were multiple yoga references in the film, and as with The Matrix, in that the world is not actually real.

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Oliva Wilde

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 2.5 stars -- maybe just a little better than that.

More: Quorra is the main the romantic interest for Sam, and she is both really cute and a computer program. To keep Quorra and Sam's relationship from being creepy -- like falling in love with a sex-bot -- she needed to be 'Special.' The eight writers that Disney hired must have labored hard to fix this. Their solution is awkward and hard to explain, they created a class of computer being that springs organically from the computerized utopia that the elder Flynn created. It takes a long time to realize that Quorra is the last one of these computer-angel creatures, and therefore super-special.

Even More: See my other Blog for a Quorra action figure.

Yet More: What will the sequel be like? Will it be in the real world?

The Fighter

2011-01-16T03:41:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Micky (Mark Wahlberg) is a prize-fighter, who he is coached by his troubled brother Dicky, (Christian Bale) and managed by his Mom Alice (Melissa Leo.) After losing for a long time, Micky meets a new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams,) who encourages him to break with his crack-addicted brother and get a new trainer.

Review: The Fighter is a family-drama with a boxing theme. The mother and brothers play out soap opera scenes intermixed with fight scenes. The most interesting part is the trouble character of Dicky and the relationship between the brothers.

[Minor spoiler] The fight scenes are predictable where Micky gets battered in the beginning of all the fights and then comes back in an unlikely way at the end.

I liked Mark Wahlberg's performance, and he was the best part of the movie. While some of the other roles may have been difficult technically, I was unimpressed.

This movie does not have the soul of the first Rocky movie, perhaps it is like Raging Bull -- another critical hit that I did not care for. This is based on the true story of Irish "Micky" Ward.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Directed by: David O Russell

Rating: 2.5 stars; Good acting; predictable plot; not fun-to-watch.

More: Wished I had seen something else.

The King's Speech

2011-01-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

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Plot: King George VI (Colin Firth) of England who was King during WWII stuttered, and he engages speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to help him.

Review: I love the Declaration of Independence. Thank God for Thomas Jefferson. I am so happy that our nation has nothing to do with an institution as worthless as the English Monarchy and especially the 1930's era monarchy with its world-wide empire.

The King's Speech has events which would be unremarkable for a high-school boy here in Southgate Michigan, but which have some ponderous meaning because it is the English royal family.

There is too much over-cute sitcom humor like -- Oh, should I bow or not? Look Lionel calls the Prince "Bertie" -- outrageous! Look! Its Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne when they were little girls -- OMG! See how the Prince doesn't stammer when he is swearing -- Oh! Princes aren't supposed to swear.

The basic idea of this movie is bad. The stuttering is probably difficult acting for Colin Firth to perform -- a nice job technically but so what. Geoffrey Rush's floppy face is expressive, and I like some of his proletarian sentiments, which were probably a-historical. Helena Bonham Carter was a highlight though.

This film is way over-rated. I suppose Anglophile might like it more than I. There are a few entertaining parts, but generally the film is not fun-to-watch.

It tries to engage intellectually on the level of "Look a handicapped person can be King too." We all like to see underdogs overcoming and making good. This is absurd for the Royal Family since they are in every way the opposite of underdogs.

Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: Who thought that this was a good idea for a movie?

The Kids Are All Right

2011-01-02T04:27:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Jules (Annette Benning) and Nic (Julianne Moore) are lesbian couple, and they have two kids through artificial insemination, 18-year old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and 14-year old Laser (Josh Hutcherson. The kids look up their sperm donor father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who turns out to be a nice, likable, and eligible. Paul vies for the affection of the kids as well as the affection of the two Moms.

Review: It's the same, but different. It's the same because we have seen dozens of love triangles and family dramas, but it is different because we have not seen it played out with lesbian parents before.

It is a little better because Mia Wasikowska's Joni character plays a pivotal role in her breaking away from her Moms, and in inviting her biological Dad into the family at the same time. We have a more interesting dynamic between interloper Paul and the three women because we have the growing-up story with Joni too.

Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska all do a great job acting. It is like a newer Woody Allen movie with good dialog basically about feelings for the whole film. Director Lisa Cholodenko underplays the final scenes, and it produces a thoughtful feeling.

Is this any film any better because it was about a homosexual couple? Yes perhaps because no one has seen this before. I am not sure why we needed a sub-plot on male homosexual videos -- unless this for laughs.

Homosexual couples are presented as being as good or better than straight couples. There is one line where son Laser is told that he would be a better person if he were gay -- which I thought was in bad taste. The idea that homosexual parents would encourage homosexuality in their children is a classic argument against homosexual marriage. I was very surprised that director Cholodenko would put such a remark in the movie. Cholodenko was probably trying to stir a debate, but maybe that is what she really thinks.

A second interesting topic is whether human sexuality orientation is born or chosen. Jules says that human sexuality is complicated, and both Jules and Nic like watching sex tapes of men. Obviously Jules has some pretty spontaneous bisexual behaviors too. Clearly they were not born liking women only. On the opposite side, they were very interested in whether son Laser was having a gay relationship with his friend.

Cast: Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Waskikowska

Written and directed by: Lisa Cholodenko

Rating: 3.5- stars; A 3.0 movie but after leaving the theater, the movie brings to mind issues that make it seem more substantive the second day -- so 3.5. It lacks the fun-ness necessary to be higher.

More: Mark Ruffalo should get some kind of lifetime achievement award for all of the excellent supporting role performances he has in arty independent movies.

Even More: I don't think that any 18-year old girl could sit at the dinner table with her parents talking about having sex with each other without turning green and vomiting -- lesbian Moms or not.

Yet More: I wonder how auto-biographical this film was for writer Cholodenko, who is a lesbian raising kids with her partner. One news article said her mannerisms and style are much like Annette Benning's Jules character.
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True Grit

2011-01-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Fourteen-year-old Mattee Ross (Hailee Steinfield) hires Federal Marshel Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hunt down murderer Tom Cheney (Josh Brolin.) They are joined by Texas Ranger Laboeuf (Matt Damon) as they venture into Indian territory to find Cheney and the criminal band he is hiding with.

Review: Mattee Ross carries True Grit. It is her larger-than-life, poise, worldliness, and spunk that makes this movie fun. The traditional Western characters like Cogburn and Laboeuf are colorful, but not distinctive or memorable. Hailee Steinfield deserves recognition It is like Ellen Page's role in Juno -- the dialog is the star of the movie.
The scene where Matee negotiates with the horse dealer should become a classic.

Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn as a likeable tough-guy with a warm heart. Jeff Bridges is always a bit disgusting, but the disgusting parts are given only in small doses. Matt Damon was probably too prominent an actor to play Laboeuf because it always seemed like Matt Damon reading lines, and never like an actual character.

True Grit was fun-to-watch, and surprisingly funny -- usually because of the dialog. There was some suspenseful action, but actually the characters were shallow - as in a comedy or action movie.

True Grit is not a Western but rather a Black Comedy. The film was well made and well acted. The movie is not really about anything -- it does not make any points about life or people or whatever.

Cast: Hailee Steinfield, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon

Directed by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Rating: 3.0 stars, perhaps edging higher to 3.5

More: I want to read the book.

Black Swan

2010-12-19T05:41:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Ballet Dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) is the Swan Queen both in her local ballet company, and in her real life struggle with her Mom (Barbara Hershey), the old Prima Dona (Winona Ryder) and with rival ballerina Lily (Mila Kunis). As the movie plays out, Nina becomes the dark Black Swan more and more. We don't know what is dream sequence, what is psychotic delusion, what is Magic, and what is real life.

The movie retells the story of Swan Lake, which is based on a Germanic folk tale about enchanted girls who turn into swans. It has battles between the girls and their mothers, elders and with each other for suitors.

Basically, Nina is the White Swan and aspiring new Swan Queen, and she fights to break a magic spell by winning a "gentleman's heart", here the heart of ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel). She must force the old primary dancer into retirement and fend off her rival Lily, the Black Swan, who tries to impersonate her.

See how long it has taken me to describe the plot, some people will hate this movie for that reason. Read the Swan Lake Wikipedia entry for more info -- it really helps.

Review: This is a top movie. Don't let the ballet theme fool you. It is really a story with big mythical themes, and you don't need to know much about ballet. The story gets darker near the end like a psychological thriller.

The movie shows battles between Nina and the old guard and then her peers, as she grows up to be an independent artist. Nina needs to grow up and embrace her 'dark side'. Here this means breaking away from her mother's vision of goodness to become an adult, though it might mean drugs, bloody killing and lesbian sex.

Natalie Portman gives the best performance I have seen in 2010. Really Oscar deserving. Her facial acting when she learns she got the Swan Queen part was a master piece -- deserving of an Oscar by itself. I don't know how much dancing Natalie really did, and how much was a double, but her dancing looks realistic throughout.

I like the interplay between art and life, and how the two twist back and forth. I like how the Magic/Dream gets stronger and darker as the movie progresses. The movie is not for people who demand linear story telling.

Everyone likes it when Nina finally turns darker and darker at the end of the film. When she may not really be in control of herself, she is really most in control of everything else.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky; Screenplay by Mark Hayman

Rating: 4.0 stars: my favorite for best picture.

More: [Spoiler] The bold art movie ending is just what the movie needed. I choose to believe that Nina lives happily ever after -- whether in heaven or on earth.

Even More: See my review for Natalie Portman in No Strings Attached.

Morning Glory

2010-12-12T03:57:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) is a young TV producer who takes over DayBreak, a struggling national morning show. DayBreak has two anchors, the overly-serious Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) and the catty Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton). Pomeroy thinks doing fluffy, frivolous stories wrecks his hard-news reputation. Peck is catty off-screen and glibbly friendly on-screen.

Becky struggles to get Pomeroy to cooperate, while she tries to spice the show up before it is canceled

Review: Morning Glory's strength turns on Becky, the Rachel McAdams character. She is a young 'every-woman' who is trying to get by in a strange world. The film is best when showing her in her strange modern sit-com situations, which she overcomes with her spunkiness, spiritedness, and directness.

Morning Glory is an update of the 35 year old Mary Tyler Moore Show, where a young producer tries to make a TV news show. In both shows, the cute female producers are not interested in romance, but instead want to make a career for themselves in television.

The movie is OK; it misses because Pomeroy, the Harrison Ford character, is too inhuman and stiff. The main relationship is between Becky and Pomeroy, and while it advances during the movie, Pomeroy is too weak a character to save the movie. The other supporting characters were even weaker. The Mary Tyler Moore Show succeeded because of the strong supporting characters especially clueless anchor Ted Baxter and tough newsman Lou Grant.

The sound track was good, but there is no soundtrack on iTunes -- all the songs are posted on this site. The story could have been told in a visual way, and at first I thought that it was adapted from a stage-play (but it wasn't.)

Cast: Amy Adams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton

Directed by: Roger Michell

Written by: Aline Brosh McKenna who also wrote the screenplay for similar themed
movies like Devil Wears Prada, and 27 Dresses

Rating: 2.5 stars; Actually a more substantive a film than it seems. It has its fun moments, but the sum total does not measure up to 3 stars.

More: This movie could easily be a television show pilot.

Love and Other Drugs

2010-12-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a slacker and hustler who is trying to break into the pharmceutical sales business. He meets artist Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) who likes him, but does not want a relationship because she has Parkinson's disease. There are sub-plots involving Zoloft and Viagra, as well as Jamie's loser brother Josh.

Review: Love and Other Drugs starts out with two flirty, horny hoties, but then takes a turn through the medical world with sarcasm about anti-depressant sales. Toward the end, living with terminal disease, specifically Parkinson's disease, enter the story.

The two lead actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway have smart dialog throughout the movie, but all the other dialog is just sitcom set-up jokes. Director Zwick dips into one serious bit, flips back to a sex joke or topless scene, and them back to terminal illness. It seems calculating and contrived to keep the future cable-TV audience from drifting away.

It is a romantic drama about living and loving with disease, and then a lot of Viagra jokes. This is a better film than Hot Tube Time Machine for example, but it is schizophrenic too.

I liked the sarcasm with Pfizer, and I wonder how the producers managed to avoid being sued. I am sure their lawyers worked overtime clearing the script, especially with all the comments about Zoloft and Viagra that crept into the film.

The soundtrack was pretty good including some interesting uses of silence.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Rating: 2.5+ stars, edging toward three stars. The movie was good, but fell down in "funness", especially late.

More: I really loved Maggie's apartment. It did not have any walls, just wall studs and wiring, with big industrial windows, and rough concrete. Funky, arty, off-beat, and also a call-for-help.

Even More: [MAJOR SPOILER] I wonder how families live with late stage Parkinson's disease. It helps to be as cute as Anne Hathaway to get a caregiver.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

2010-11-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

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Plot: Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) grabs control, and seeks to kill Harry and his other opponents. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermionie (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) take to the wilderness to hide, and to work on destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Review: Deathly Hallows makes no pretense of bringing along non-fans who would undoubtedly be lost. The movie dispenses with silly spells, school-boy games, and father figures from the earlier movies. Here our heros are struggling adolescents who must rise to the challenge to save lives and save the world.

The best parts are the subtle interactions between our three heros, and the fighting is just a side plot. All of the main actors have matured and are good actors, with Emma Watson delivering some great lines and reaction shots.

The wilderness scenes were beautiful, but there were too many of them -- this section is too long in the book too.

The end was not satisfying; it needed cliffhanger or a major turn in the story to punctuate the ending.

I am sure the five hour combined version of this movie, when it is eventually done, will be more satisfying. I want to see it that way next summer when part 2 comes out.

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Directed by: David Yates

Rating: 2.5 stars; This is a worthy effort. Enjoyable but it falls short in funness.

More: The opening sequence is unforgetable when Hermione, calls her parents, and then erases their memories of her saying "Obliviate."

Unstoppable

2010-11-13T17:07:00.000-08:00

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Plot: A big freight train with toxic chemicals is set to derail in a Pennsylvania town unless railroad veteran Frank (Denzel Washington) and railroad rookie Will (Chris Pine) can stop it.

Review: The video of the trains, bridges, rails, pick-up trucks were colorful and great. Director Tony Scott has a great eye for colorful and shiny machinery, however, some of the dialog was awful, and attention to detail sucked. All the dialog from the TV reporters, the daughters, railroad coworkers was bad bordering on stupid.

Happily the dialog between Frank and Will was good. They did a nice job of integrating the back-story with the plot. Denzel's acting was serviceable -- not great but competent and entertaining. Chris Pine was a more engaging. Rosario Dawson, as railyard master Connie, stole the show -- lots of good lines and reaction shots.

In summary, the main train story was action-packed and entertaining. The dialog between the main characters was good enough. The rest of the actors and story was embarrassingly dumb.

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson

Directed by: Tony Scott

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: This is the first movie (that I have seen) with omniscient TV reporters. Rather than have a character or narrator explain the plot twists , a series of local Fox 43 News reporters do it. It informs the audience, but it was in no way realistic. I can forgive a little of this, as a story-telling device, but it got too distracting.

Even More: I was distracted by the endless "product placement" of the Rupert Murdock-owned Fox TV Network in this Rupert Murdock-owned Twentieth Century Fox movie.

Conviction

2010-11-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) is a low-life in rural Massachusetts, and he is accused of a terrible murder and convicted. His sister Betty Ann (Hillary Swank) is certain he is innocent. She gets her GED, her BA, and her JD -- then goes to work as Kenny's attorney to clear his name. The rest of the movie, which is based on a true story, is fairly predictable.

Review: This movie is a predictable drama, and about average in entertainment value. The story was engaging enough, but a few more plot twists would have helped.

Betty Ann Waters is a sympathetic character, but Kenny Waters is unlikeable. I could see why the police would want to lock him up. The characters get into a rut where they are always angry at each other or at the police. Anger was probably the proper emotion, but the audience gets worn out by it. The subplot with Betty Ann's kids helps broaden the story out. Swank is a good actress, but the range of emotion required in Conviction was not-so great.

I liked Minnie Driver as Betty's law school friend -- she had some great facial expressions. It was interesting to have Barry Scheck, the real life DNA attorney from the the OJ Simpson case, as a character here.

In summary, a non-enthusiastic recommendation. A good drama for a rainy afternoon.

Cast: Hillary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver

Directed by: Tony Goldwyn

Written by: Pamela Gray, based on a true story

Rating: 2.0 stars

More: The film fails to mention that Kenny Water's died in a fall six months after being released from prison. His estate received $3.4 million from the state for wrongful conviction. It would have been gutsier to have ended the movie with the fall.

Even more: The sound editing during the dinner scene was awful. I never heard such gross-sounding Mac and Cheese. My wife and I both thought the sound of the spoon scooping the Mac and Cheese sounded like something vile from a Halloween funhouse -- like a bowl of gooey eyeballs or a tub of guts.

Hereafter

2010-10-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

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Plot: George (Matt Damon) is a psychic who finds psychic abilities hurt his ability to meet girls, as we learn when he brings Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard) home. There are two intercut sub-plots: a troubled boy (George/Frankie McLaren) wants to contact his dead twin; and a French newscaster, Marie (Cécile De France,) plagued by her near-death experience in a tsunami.

Review: A disappointing flop. Hereafter has good performances in the service of an intensely dull and slow moving script.

The movie begins with its best scene, a dramatic tsunami hitting a vacation beach, and Marie's death and rescue in the flood. After this scene pace slows to a crawl, Matt Damon's George is a calm, slow character. I like Damon's acting best in the movie, but the movie drags between his scenes, and the acoustic sound track is like a lullaby . Marie is French, and for some reason most of her dialog is in French. I can't understand this: how does it help the movie to have one third of it in French?

The third story is about a twin boy, Marcus, who survives the death of his brother in a traffic accident. The boy is depicted as a saintly child caring for his drug-addicted mother, and bedeviled by the need to reconnect with the dead twin. The boy's character is not realistic, does not make sense, and the actor depiction of the character is uninspired.

Clint Eastwood fell on his face in this movie. This self-important, ponderous movie wastes its good acting with clumsy editing and a poor story.

Cast: Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cécile De France

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Rating: 1.5 stars

More: More than anything else I am bored by the mythos of near death experiences. Can someone think of something new to say about it?

Even more: My DW liked the movie. She identified with the spiritual seekers, and especially how the "regular" people disregarded Marie's and Marcus's need to deal with their issues.

RED

2010-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Someone is trying to kill ex-CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), and threatening to kill the girl he has been stalking, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker.) Sarah eventually learns to like Frank because he prevents her from getting shot. Frank hooks up with old friends Joe (Morgan Freeman,) Marvin (John Malkovich,) and Victoria (Helen Mirren.) They take on CIA bad guys, arms manufacturers (Richard Dreyfus,) and politicians.

Review: The plot is a rehash of a dozen movies like A-Team and Rambo 3 where old guys get together and fight for justice. RED keeps moving helped by the support cast which was very strong including Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfus, and especially Helen Mirren. Helen delivered some great lines that were fun to watch; sadly she was not in the movie that much.

Head tough-guy Frank/Bruce Willis is not interesting or likeable enough, and he is the weak point of the movie.

I liked Marvin's paranoid rants that turned out to be just what the NSA was doing to find them. That was pretty funny and decent political commentary at the same time.

The special effects were solid and good enough -- not as great we see routinely summer blockbusters. The end of the movie was clever, and I liked that. I did not care for the post card motif -- perhaps this is borrowed from the comic book.

This is almost a comedy because the shooting isn't realistic, and few people actually die. These people can't seem to hit anything with their automatic weapons.

Excellent soundtrack by Christophe Beck -- I've already bought two tracks: Radical Early Discovery and Ruined Election Dinner. I am toying with buying album.

Cast: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfus

Directed by: Rober Schwentke; based on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner

Rating: 2.5 stars; this was better than I thought it would be. It might be a 3.0 for people who like Bruce Willis more than I do. Also I did not like the stalker/kidnapping episode --see the Even More bullet below.

More: Gotta love Helen Mirren with a machine gun -- the best part.

Even More: I don't like how Sarah eventually learns to like her stalker and kidnapper Frank. Showing the hero capturing a girl who then learns to love him only encourages sexual violence. Strange how I forgive a movie full of shooting, and object to the kidnapping -- but to me this is worse.

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Easy A

2010-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Olive (Emma Stone) makes up a boyfriend and a sexual encounter to get out of a camping weekend. Someone overhears her excuse and soon the whole school thinks she sleeps around. Later she pretends to have sex with a gay friend to help him stay in the closet convincingly. Soon all the gay boys are pretending to have sex with her, and all the fundamentalists are trying to have her expelled. She takes to wearing a red "A" on her shirt like Hester Prin in the Scarlett Letter.

Review: This is a likeable movie with a sharp script, and a likeable star in Emma Stone. Everyone knows that this could not really happen, but it is so exaggerated to be funny. The word is farce -- it is not a regular romantic comedy.

Olive narrates the story which breaks up the action, but helps us understand Olive better. She is the only real character in the movie. All the other characters in the movie are carcatures, and there arn't any real friendship. Olive has a lonely life that is part of her appeal, and the irony is that everyone believes she has dozens of relationships.

I liked Olive's parents played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson. They provided comic diversion, and did most of the sex jokes. The teacher (Thomas Haden Church) and guidance counselor (Lisa Kudrow) were bigger than life, troubled personalities.

Cast: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci

Directed by: Will Gluck, written by Bert Royal

Rating: 3.0 flasks, too funny and clever to be any less. Not ambitious enough to be any more.

More: I liked the Huckleberry Finn joke. . . . I don't know anybody who runs away with a hulking black man . . .

The Social Network

2010-10-02T17:35:00.001-07:00

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Plot: Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) was a sophomore at Harvard, when he got in trouble for inventing Facemash, which rated Harvard undergrad girls for hotness. Two upperclassmen hired him to write a program called Harvard Connection, but while he was doing that he wrote Facebook with a backer Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield.) Later Mark meets Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who gets Facebook big money funding, and then tricks Sean into selling out. The movie is told in flashback during a legal case from the other founders of Facebook. The flashbacks feature frat parties, drinking, and flirty girls.

Review: From the opening dialogue with Jesse Eisenberg and Roone Mara (as girlfriend Erica) the writing is clever, fast moving and witty. The plot keeps moving, and the story is about the people not the legal angles. The plot details seem dull, but to the movie's credit it is interesting and engaging.

They pull a Hollywood trick of intercutting (seemingly) technical details with sex scenes or in one case a girl spitefully setting a bed on fire. This makes the movie interesting visually for those who are glossing over the details, but mostly it means meaningless girl-on-girl kissing and gratuitous skin. A little of this is OK, but when I start to notice it, then it is too much.

A second problem was the sound editing, which was noticeably poor -- good sound editing should not be noticeable. Several times foot steps and props did not sound right.

I liked this movie a lot mostly because the writing was so clever. It was engaging throughout. Mark Zuckerberg was not especially likeable, but he was a strong personality that we rooted for. I also liked the that there was some amount of computer geek-talk in the film, and that the geeks win. I did not like the elitist Harvard stuff.

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Roone Mara

Written and directed by: Alan Sorkin based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

Rating: 3.5 flasks; Performances are good. The script is outstanding. Not the world's funnest movie, but very strong. Closer to 3.0 than 4.0 though.

More: Hollywood movies generally don't have a lot of fact in them. Supposedly Mark Zuckerberg is much less articulate in real life. Cameron Winklevoss says he was deceived and swindled out of the original concept.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

2010-09-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the bad guy in the first Wall Street movie gets released from prison after 13 years. It's 2007, and he writes a book about the pending financial collapse of 2008, and soon young Wall Streeter Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) tracks him down. Jake is engaged to Gordon's daughter Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan). In the meantime Jake loses his job working at a Lehman Brothers-like investment bank when it goes bankrupt due to toxic assets. Jake gets a job at a rival company and hooks up with with Gordon for advice. Gordon wants to reconcile with Winnie, and Jake tries to set that up. As the financial crisis of 2008 unfolds, there is narrative about the bank crisis and Federal Reserve actions, as well as much moaning about "moral hazard."

Review: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is uneven. It has some excellent scenes especially at the beginning before Michael Douglas enters the story. There are some wonderful and poetic visuals that are worth seeing. I loved the richness of the sets. The weakest part of the movie was the preaching by Michael Douglas: no one talks like that. The dramatic scenes with Michael Douglas were not that good either.

The Shia LaBeouf scenes are strong though, and I liked his scenes with Carey Mulligan too.

The plot involving the fusion power company struck me as clever. I liked how it was threaded through the movie. The plot was well-crafted to deal with the issues of the financial crisis without being too pedagogical. I suspect that someone without much financial background might be lost though.

I liked the ending. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was enjoyable, but lacked consistent dramatic or artistic content; it is a near miss.

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Carey Milligan

Directed by: Oliver Stone

Rating: 3.0, almost 2.5 but I liked the ambition and the subject matter.

More: They said "moral hazard" over and over again, but seldom used it correctly.

Even More: I liked how Jake's Mom (Susan Sarandon) quits real estate and goes back to nursing.
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The Town

2010-09-19T04:04:00.000-07:00

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Plot:  Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) lives in an Irish working class district called Charlestown in Boston. "The 'town" is home to an Irish bankrobbing mafia. At the beginning, he and his friend James (Jeremy Renner) rob a bank. They take the bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage and release her when they get away. Later Doug and Claire get romantic while FBI agent Frawley (Doug Hamm) investigates.

Review:  An exciting movie with solid dramatic action, a great script, and dynamic scenes. The chemistry between Ben Affleck and Rebecca Hall was tops. Ben Affleck's performance was Oscar worthy.

A highlight was the bankrobbery scene dresses as nuns, as shown in the poster. I liked the idea that these losers were organized and professional enough to pull of a Mission Impossible style crimes. I liked the Blake Lively plot line especially her roll in unravelling the final heist.

What I like about this movie is that it has everything, action scenes, flirty romance, three dimensional characters, fun chase-scenes, and a no holds barred ending.  It reminds me of Mystic River which also combined grittiness, action, and clever dialog in a crime drama.

Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Doug Hamm

Directed by: Ben Affleck

Based on the book "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan

Rating: 4.0 flasks; One of the year's best.

More:  When we lived in Pittsburgh, we knew a mafia florist too.

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Going the Distance

2010-09-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Erin meets Garrett while she is working in New York as an intern, and they fall in love. When summer is over she goes back to San Francisco, and they have a long distance relationship punctuated by phone calls, texting, and plane rides. Erin and Garrett have side-plots with Garrett's goofy friends and Erin's compulsive sister. By the end of the movie, they need to decide whether they break up or move.

Review: Going the Distance is a nice light comedy with some fresh situations and clever jokes. While it is a romance, it is not like all the other love stories because it has enough clever twists and strange friends providing entertaining distractions.

Drew Barrymore's acting is strong, but Justin Long is only OK. He needs a better haircut too. I liked Christina Applegate as Erin's compulsive sister. I liked the chemistry between Garrett's friends, and Charlie Day as roommate Dan was pretty funny.

The movie keeps moving; the jokes are pretty good; and overall it was a positive movie going experience. This is better than most light romances, so I recommend it.

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long

Directed by: Nanette Burstein; written by Goeff LaTulippe - his first movie

Rating: 2.5 flasks; likeable, fun but not great.

More: I liked roommate Dan playing DJ for the date -- that was reliably funny.

The American

2010-09-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

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Plot:  An underworld killer and gunsmith is being hunted by Swedish assassins, so Jack (George Clooney) shoots his girlfriend to cover his tracks and treks to a mountain town in Northern Italy to hide. His boss sends him a client, Ingrid (Irina Bjoeklund) for whom he makes a specialty rifle. He meets Clara (Violante Placido) in Italy and flirts with her.

Review: This is a patient drama about how a cartoonish killer might respond if suddenly dropped into a art school film. Clooney plays a his assassin/gunsmith as a deeply repressed and flinty tough guy. The camera spends the first half of the film staring deeply into his wrinkled face looking for emotion.  We don't find much emotion or motivation.

Why does this guy kill so many people? It does not seem to be to fund his cool lifestyle. It is not for his friends, his family, his country. He's not being blackmailed.

The film has a long sex scene that is supposed to show Jacks and Clara's developing affection, but it seems gratuitous. The skinny dipping scene is better in that Clara's playing in the idyllic lake is contrasted with murderous intentions (we imagine) the characters are thinking.

There are some highlights. The scenery is pretty, especially the city scenes. I want to go visit Italy. Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli,) the local priest is a bright spot. Those scenes were interesting; even if Paulo Bonacelli's hairy and flabby face was pretty gross.

!!MAJOR SPOILER!! What is the point of this movie? Are we watching a cartoonish killer turn from girlfriend slayer to co-worker and boss killer? Is that moral progress? Are we supposed to be impressed that he gets teary when he is wounded? Is he crying for himself?

Cast: George Clooney, Violante Placido

Directed by: Anton Corbijn; based on the novel by Martin Booth

Rating: 1.5 flasks; dull enough for one star; overwrought; basically pointless.

More: George Clooney fans will probably be severely disappointed.

Even more: Other critics has called this movie slow and silent. I did not have a problem with the pacing or the minimum of dialog.
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The Switch

2010-08-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Kassie's (Jennifer Aniston's) biological clock is ticking down, and she wants to get a sperm donor. Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) is Kassie's BFF and former boyfriend. He naturally is really in love with her, and SWITCHES (ha! that's the title) his sperm for the sperm donor's. Time passes. The kid becomes a precocious and neurotic 1st grader. The rest of the movie is humor based on this premise.

Review: Like children's and horror movies, romantic comedies have their own rating system. Yes this was unrealistic, and it was done just for fun with no real morale, message or insight into the human condition -- despite a pithy voiceovers at the beginning. But in the romantic comedy universe, this was pretty good. This film is more artificial and arranged than most -- it is more of a fantasy. If you are looking for a drama or an action movie you'll be disappointed.

Jason Bateman is great in this movie, and he makes the film worth watching. Jennifer Anniston is good also, and there is some good chemistry between them early in the film. Jeff Goldblum steals every scene he is in.

The child, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), has unnaturally adult dialog, which is funny at first, but also moves the story along faster; another example of the artificiality of the film.

Still it is a cheerful, likable movie, that provides a diverting movie experience, and it is better than most romantic comedies.

Cast: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Jeff Goldblum, Thomas Robinson

Directed by: Josh Gordon, Will Speck; based on the short story The Baster by Jeffrey Eugenides

Rating: 2.5 flasks because the acting was good, but not higher because this is still a forgettable comedy.

More: Did they use the word "sperm" in the movie at all? Perhaps once.

Even more: I wondered how long Jeff Goldblum was going to keep explaining over and over that the sperm got switched.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

2010-08-15T04:15:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Scott (Michael Cera) becomes Ramona's (Mary Elizabeth Windstead) new boyfriend, but her old boyfriends have formed a club to keep her single --out of revenge. Scott needs to defeat each one of them as in a video game. The battles are like a Street Fighter game or a role playing game. Scott's old girl friends are in the story too: Knives (Ellen Wong), Kim (Allison Pill), and Envy (Brie Larson) each contribute subplots. Scott and Kim are in a band, and two of the boyfriend battles are musical showdowns.

Review: Scott Pilgrim is a winner because it's good time and it's clever. The plot is a simple romance between Scott and Ramona, and its gimmick is video game battles and rock-n-roll.

Like a musical or a Power Rangers episode, the live action scenes stop for surrealistic, video-game action sequences. There are also dream sequences and magic doors.

The action scenes are at least as interesting as in regular action movies, probably because the idea is so novel.

Director Edgar Wright keeps the action moving with quick video editing. The visual story telling works especially well, and is a major part of why this film works. There are split screens and captions styled like comic books.

Micheal Cera plays Scott Pilgrim in a low-key fashion, like "look at the weird stuff that keeps happening to me." It might have been better if Scott were more dynamic, but it would have been a different film. Similarly Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Ramona as troubled, but she could have been more quirky and mysterious.

On a serious note, every new person we meet has to deal with baggage of all our previous experiences and relationships. The film can be interpreted that way. Each ex represents some facet of Ramona's life and how she moved past it; perhaps the graphic novel expands on this. The movie is more about fun than life-lessons though.

This movie is an instant classic. I want to see it again, even though I am not a gamer.

Cast: Micheal Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Directed by: Edgar Wright; based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Rating: 3.5 flasks; perhaps it deserves only a 3.0, but I did like it a lot.

More: The video game action will catch all the attention, but the fast moving video style, and the interaction with gamer culture will be the lasting impact of Scott Pilgrim.
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The Other Guys

2010-08-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

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Plot: Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is a nerdy accountant, who is also a New York cop, and his parter is Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) a normal guy who is ashamed to work with Allen because he is too nerdy, clueless and not macho enough. Allen and Terry stumble upon a financial scandal, and fight the bad guys. There are many subplots involving Allen's strange attraction to women, and the back story of each detective.

Review: The is a strange and ridiculous movie. It is funny because it is relentlessly ridiculous -- very funny at times.

Will Ferrell is the star. His Alan Gamble character is pitiable, but not quite pathetic. The plot is simple, but it keeps the comic set-ups coming, and the jokes follow.

The special effects are showy and punctuate the jokes, but they seemed to be tacked-on to awe the audience not to advance the story.

Mark Wahlberg is a great straight-man, and he is likeable enough. I expect it is harder to be a straight-man than it seems; still I was not overly impressed.

The Other Guys is all for fun, and it has no serious side. Just a mindless August movie. Mindless or not, I was glad I saw it.

Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton

Directed by: Adam McKay

Rating: 2.5 flasks; Really funny at times, but not a top quality comedy.

More: This is one of the funniest movies of 2010. What are the funniest? Date Night and Take Him to the Greek are the best funny movies. The Other Guys and Hot Tub Time Machines are laugh-out-loud mindless fun.