Easy A

I was not entirely interested in watching Easy A before I watched it. The last high school movie that I actually enjoyed was 10 Things I Hate About You and that movie came out in 1999. And before that the only good high school movies were from the 80s. I tend to set my expectations low for high school movies and it is a rare thing to have my expectations exceeded in this genre...

Easy A is an above-average high school comedy. It is a present day twist on The Scarlet Letter starring Emma Stone as Olive. And when I say starring, I mean it. Stone took the lead role by the horns. She is sassy and charismatic. The only problem with Stone being so great is that a person as intelligent and good looking as her character would never have been ignored in high school like her character is. There are plenty of clever things in the film that make it easy to look past any of the problems the story has. For instance, Easy A has boldly smart dialog and truly like-able characters. The two most notably like-able characters are Olive's parents, played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. They are a bit out there yet quite endearing. The pièce de résistance, of course, is the many blatant references to, and the clips of, several 80s high school movies. They give it a multi-generational appeal, which is an impressive achievement. Easy A is quite entertaining; it exceeds expectations.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a unique comic book adaptation created to make you feel like you are in a living video game. It is the tale of Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) finding himself on an unusual quest to fight and KO the seven evil exes of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the girl of his dreams. The pacing of the story is a bit uneven at times; however, the visuals and exaggerated action sequences make up for that. Edgar Wright has a cinematic approach that works well for this story. His stylization keeps it more interesting and engaging than Cera could have alone. And essentially the entire supporting cast of characters are fun, quirky, and do a terrific job of highlighting the depth of the story. All the pieces come together nicely in this film. On the whole Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a well executed fantasy-action-comedy.

Salt

For a high paced action flick, Salt is surprisingly boring. Angelina Jolie is just okay as the main character Evelyn Salt. She is a character that is easy to have an indifferent attitude toward. Salt the character is empty and so is Salt the movie. For the most part it is dull and depressing. The plot does have a few interesting, albeit predictable, twists but nothing about it knocks my socks off. The only thing I could find to like about Salt is how outlandish the stunts are. I do enjoy watching people pull off impossible feats, but I cannot say there is much else in Salt that is enjoyable.

Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory stars Ryan Reynolds as Frank, a control freak/efficiency expert, who uses lists and note cards to rule his life. When his wife changes the clocks in their house, it throws all of his plans out of whack and opens up a whole new unexpected and unplanned world for him. The events that take place bring out a new level of honesty in his life. For having a story line about chaos, this film is put together quite well. Reynolds shines in Chaos Theory. He does a fantastic job of convincing the audience that he is a man whose world has been flipped up-side-down and shaken all around. He is, quite frankly, the best thing about the film. The other characters were certainly necessary but I didn't find any of them extremely impressive. I maybe would like to have seen the note cards get a little more screen time though. Overall, it is a serious, humorous, and intriguing film.

Your Highness

Your Highness woulda, coulda, shoulda been a silly, slightly bawdy, and extremely entertaining fantasy/comedy. But even with so many big name actors and such a talented director this movie found a way to disappoint. It seemed as though Your Highness was written on a roll of toilet paper after eating a digestively challenging meal. If the writing hadn't been so horrible the story might have been something worth watching. The movie is set in medieval times and tells the story of two princes on a quest to save a maiden from an evil wizard. Thadeous (Danny McBride) is the younger brother and main character in the film. He plays a lazy, arrogant miscreant of a prince who is jealous of his older close-to-perfect brother Fabious (James Franco). It was hard to find any redeeming qualities in Thadeous. In fact, very early on in the film I found myself hoping for the demise of his character and the ultimate redemption of the much more sympathetic character and bad guy, the wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux). The warrior, Isabel (Natalie Portman) was the best part of the film, but for as beguiling as it was hearing her say such disturbingly brutal lines, that novelty was not enough to make me like Your Highness. I hoped that I wouldn't end up hating this movie, but once the severed genitalia became a necklace all hope was lost.

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Wristcutters: A Love Story is an awfully optimistic film about suicide. I think that it almost goes with out saying that a film set in a limbo world where people go after they kill themselves is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Wristcutters has an interesting and unique take on the afterlife. It is not as far out there or depressing as the subject matter would suggest. The main characters in the film are essentially on a road trip of self-discovery. Even though the dead characters are not able to smile, they still seem hopeful and positive. The dreary and washed out colors and the slow pacing of the film gives you time to sit there and wonder how the characters can be so lively when they are dead. Wristcutters is artfully filmed and yet kind of silly. For as quirky as the film feels, there are many scenes that are fairly conventional. My favorite thing about this film and the reason that I gave this film a chance is the dust-bunny on the floor in the opening scene. The dust-bunny provides some enjoyable dark humor. And I enjoyed Wristcutters; it is both familiar and different.

Gamer

Gamer is non-stop bat-out-of hell madness. It is a load of straightforward action, bloodshed, and sexual content. The story is not very deep and there is not a whole lot of character development. It is hard not to think of the Running Man or Death Race while watching Gamer, but it is fair to say that Gamer is its own movie. The cast of the film is impressive, as is the cinematography. Michael C Hall, Terry Crews, Ludacris, and Kyra Sedgwick are all fun to watch even if they do not have the best writing to work with. And Gerard Butler does not disappoint in the lead role. I cannot say the same thing about the movie as a whole. I find it rather disappointing. Gamer tries too hard. It is a prime example of over-the-top puerile entertainment that has a lot of potential to offend.

Planet 51

Planet 51 is an average childrens movie. It has both positive and negative aspects to it. The film is about a planet of green people living in their own version of 1950s America being visited by an alien in the form of an American astronaut. This premise is pretty fantastic. The crisp animation, the right choice of music, and the homage paid to other films are all terrific things. Casting Gary Oldman as the voice of the military general is a stroke of genius. But then the writing is glaringly weak. Most of the characters are not developed enough to be very interesting. The humor is not well balanced with the serious side of the story. And most of the jokes are not terribly funny. Planet 51 provides reasons to not hate it and reasons to not love it, so I ended up only sort of liking it.

From Paris with Love

From Paris with Love is a bit of a wild ride. The film is well shot and the action is well choreographed. But the story starts off boring and lacking clarity. It becomes fairly engaging once you get past the first 15-20 slow moving minutes that focus on Jonathan Rhys Meyers character, James Reece. The film takes off when Charlie Wax, played by John Travolta, is introduced to partner up with Reece. They are to work together in an effort to thwart a terrorist attack in Paris. Reece becomes a more interesting character under the influence of Wax. Wax is a take-no-prisoners sort of super spy. It is stupid how good he is at what he does. And mostly what he does is kill bad guys. Travolta is fantastic as Charlie Wax. He delivers his cocky, ridiculous lines extraordinarily well. He is quite charismatic. Travolta makes From Paris with Love worth your time if you are in the mood for an over the top, high body count movie that does not neglect to throw in a Royale with Cheese/Pulp Fiction reference.

The Wood

The Wood is fair buddy movie. It is about three long-time friends, Mike, Roland, & Slim, reminiscing about their younger days to help deal with Roland's wedding day cold-feet. The Wood serves up a good amount of funny, an acceptable amount of foul language, and a great amount of heart. However, it is jam packed with an excessive amount of flashbacks. The movie spent so much time in the past that it was hard to get invested in the adult versions of the main characters. For the most part, the flashbacks were cute, full of adolescent madness including the ever popular how are we gonna get laid bet, and had a very 80s feel to them but the sheer volume of the flashbacks weighed the movie down. This movie does an adequate job of placing itself within the myriad of other films that are essentially just like it, except in this one you get to see Taye Diggs naked behind. Overall, The Wood is not a bad film.

Grown Ups

Grown Ups has a talented and funny cast. Yet based on the performances in this movie it is difficult to remember that these actors are, in fact, talented and funny. None of the characters are well-developed and the plot is flimsy. The movie lacks both a good story and good comedy. It is great that Adam Sandler likes his friends and enjoys hanging out with them; however, I'm not sure why that had to be done under the guise of making a movie. The best thing about Grown Ups is Maya Rudolf. She is a lone beautiful flower growing out of a large expensive pile of manure. I wanted so much to like this movie but I just couldn't. It is lazy and unfunny.

Nothing Like the Holidays

Nothing Like the Holidays is a holiday dramedy about a Puerto Rican family from Chicago. The film tells the story of three grown children all coming home to visit their parents for Christmas. The family is tight-knit, dysfunctional, and likeable, which is what I have come to expect from family holiday films. However, what makes this film exceed my expectations is that it does not overload the story with too much corny sentimentalism or cutesy comedy. Instead, it has a minimal (or a satisfactory) amount of cornball moments and devastating moments. Nothing Like the Holidays is simple and straightforward with a nice sprinkling of complexity. It is a clever holiday film with a lot of heart and a great cast.

White Christmas

White Christmas brings back warm, fuzzy childhood memories every time I watch it. It is one of my favorite movies to watch when the weather outside is frightful and when the fire is so delightful...

It may not be a cinematic masterpiece but that doesn't matter. I find it terribly entertaining anyway. The songs are fantastic and the story is multi-faceted. White Christmas found a wonderful way to mix a military story, a love story, and a Christmas story in one nice little package. A package that includes Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby lipsynching while dressed in partial drag AND Rosemary Clooney singing song after magical song. These things make me happy. I refuse to let a December go by without watching White Christmas at least once. To me this one is worth watching.

Funny People

Funny People is a drama starring comedians. It is full of laughs, sentiment, and swearing. Celebrity comedian cameos abound in this film, the best one being Paul Reiser. It is fair to say that Funny People lets you in on what life can be like for aspiring and professional comedians, and that aspect of it is thoroughly enjoyable. The movie could have stayed entirely enjoyable if it didn't waste so much time with the Leslie Mann and Eric Bana storyline. Mann and Bana give fine performances, but Eric Bana's character is unnecessary. Putting all side plots and characters aside, Adam Sandler plays his depressed, callous, and dying of cancer character well. He is not a likeable character. Then there is Seth Rogen. Rogen is fantastic; he plays the most likeable character he's played since he was in Freaks and Geeks. He is the real star of the movie. Funny People as a whole may not quite hit the mark, but Seth Rogen sure does.

Red Sonja

Red Sonja is sort of the red-headed step-sister of the Conan films. This is not a movie that was made to win any awards and is not a movie that should be taken too seriously. It is a B-movie that fits into a slew of different genres from Fantasy to Action/Adventure to Romance. It has plenty of sword play as well as arduous and poorly delivered dialogue. The movie has a female lead played by Brigitte Nielsen, a female bad guy, AND it has Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold plays Kalidor and although he has a large part in the film, this is really Nielsen's movie. Her character, Red Sonja, joins forces with unlikely allies to achieve their separate goals. Red Sonja is on a journey of revenge. Kalidor is on a journey of duty. Prince Tarn (Ernie Reyes, Jr.) is on a journey to be crowned the most annoying character in the entire film. And they all have pretty successful journeys. Red Sonja is like a pet that is so ugly that your brain is tricked into thinking it is cute. I love this cute movie.

Big Business

I have a soft spot for quite a few silly movies from the 80s and Big Business is one of those movies...

It is one of the most charming movies to have come out in the 80s. It's a bit ridiculous, but that is what makes it great. The film takes a comedic view of nature versus nurture by splitting up two sets of twins and putting them back together in a mix matched fashion. Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin each play two twin roles which certainly does double the pleasure. They are both fun to watch. And Fred Ward's character is quite loveable; he's hard not to like and appreciate. Big Business is a wholesome movie that leaves you feeling happy.

Role Models

The characters and minutia of Role Models are what make this formulaic movie entertaining, playful and novel. You can tell that it will have a happy ending of sorts but you don't know exactly how it will get there. Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott play energy drink reps turned 'Big Brothers' after a little run in with the law in this consistently amusing and witty movie. The kids they end up mentoring are difficult to say the least but all the characters work well together. It isn't a completely ludicrous film; it is actually pretty believable to a point. You get to know the characters better than you would in most other comedies like this and yet the film doesn't ever take itself too seriously. All the actors in this film are a delight to watch but it was Rudd that ultimately made the movie for me. Role Models exceeded my expectations; it's funny.

Speed

Speed makes you eat your popcorn with a quickness. The story line is a simple, but not too simple to be all together boring. After his first extortion attempt is thwarted by two LAPD cops (Keanu Reeves and Jeff Daniels), a crazy bomber (Dennis Hopper) slaps a bomb under a city bus in order to demand a very specific amount of money from the city. The trick is that the bus can't go under 50 miles an hour or it will explode. Oh my! The movie doesn't have much character development but you don't need that to appreciate the characters. It is certainly not hard to appreciate Sandra Bullock in this movie. She plays the character that has to drive the speeding death tube. She's adorable and quite possibly the most believable character in the film. In fact, other than Bullock there is not much about this movie that is believable; that's what is great about it though. It's the perfect movie to watch when you want to tune out the real world and give your mind a break. It's thrilling, intense, exciting and extremely hard to believe. Speed is worth watching.

The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer is a candy-coated romantic comedy that simultaneously recreates and pokes fun at the 80s in a loving and nostalgic way. This movie is sickeningly sweet with a hint of sour mixed in. It is the sort of movie that teeters on the edge of being a love-it or hate-it film for me. And I fell on the love-it side. The plot of the movie is sappy and pretty darn predictable. Julia, the waitress played by Drew Barrymore, and Robbie, the wedding singer played by Adam Sandler, are a match made in rom-com heaven. The chemistry between Barrymore and Sandler is palpable. They are perfectly cast and it is enjoyable to see them in a film that is so simple and unpretentious. The Wedding Singer has just the right amount of almost endless 80s music and vibrantly colored clothing and settings. And the movie is jam packed with popular culture references that it almost did not need the appearance of a DeLorean. But it IS a DeLorean, so why not? The Wedding Singer does its job well; it is entertaining and worthy of more than one viewing.

Good Dick

The trailer for Good Dick is thoroughly enjoyable and makes the movie look pretty great. The film, on the other hand, falls short on so many levels. The premise is an unlikely one. Most of the movie is awkward, confusing, and off-putting; and I’m not even talking about the porn addiction aspect of it. I’m referring to the creepy lead characters played by Palka and Ritter. The film is trying too hard to be quirky and shocking and then the ending, if you make it that far, is ever so predictable. Plenty of people will certainly like this film. Me? I just liked the preview.

Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals is a prime example of how a great movie can be made on a low budget. I could just simply describe Smoke Signals as the story of two young Native American men, Victor and Thomas, setting out on a road trip from Idaho to Arizona to bring the ashes of Victor's father home. However, it is much more than that. Smoke Signals is a film with an enthralling and complicated story. It has a good sense of humor and a flair for the dramatic. The personalities of the two main characters, Victor and Thomas, are mirrored in the ever-changing tone of Smoke Signals. Victor (Adam Beach) is often sullen, bitter, and quiet; while Thomas (Evan Adams) is usually happy-go-lucky, kindhearted, and loquacious. This movie touches on almost the whole range of human emotion. Every time I see this film I am engrossed by it. I could watch this film once a month and never get tired of it or stop loving it. In fact, I find something new to love about it with every viewing. Smoke Signals always leaves me happy, hungry for fry bread, and singing about John Wayne's teeth.

Curious George

I have been a fan of the Curious George books by Margret and H.A. Rey for so long. They were my favorite childhood reading materials and bring back many fond memories. I was concerned that when they decided to make a Curious George movie that it would be a complete bastardization of the MY George. Therefore, I'm surprised to be saying this but when it comes to the Curious George movie...I loved it!

It is a tall order to fill and not just for me. Curious George is one of the most popular children's stories of the past 60 years. George and his world are altered to make the film more modern and marketable but the film makers are able to do it without corrupting its virtue. The man in the yellow hat gets a name and quite a personality. He is voiced by Will Ferrell and his name is Ted. Ted and George meet in the jungle and George follows "Ted" to the city. George leaves the jungle because...well...he is curious. It's adorable, touching & sweet. The film has an old fashioned feel to it. It's very 2D and that adds to the innocence. George is drawn slightly different from the books but his new look makes him even cuter then I thought was possible. Jack Johnson is responsible for the soundtrack. His voice and his style were the perfect choice. The credits even have original drawings of George throughout them. All I can do is gush about this movie. It's uncomplicated and filled with so much innocence. It is perfect for kids and adults who never stopped loving George. I am not convinced that Disney would be able to make a children's film of this caliber, so I am glad that someone else was behind this film. It's clean, unoffensive, unobjectionable, and untainted...