The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I was surprised that Hollywood decided to remake the 2009 Swedish film of the same name, the original was so good and only just released two years ago!  This new version stars Daniel Craig and relative newcomer, Rooney Mara, and is in many ways very close to the original.  I thought good ol' Hollywood might tone down some of the more graphic scenes but in fact they did not.  They added a bit more fluff here and there, but when it came to the gritty material they kept it, well, just as gritty.  It is a good film, with a slightly complicated plot, but it all sorts itself out in the end.  I look forward to seeing how the next two remakes compare...

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

I have heard the argument that this second installment of the new Sherlock Holmes is better than the first, but my two cents is that it is still a disappointment.  For some reason I am going into these films with super high expectations, and maybe that is where my problem lies.  I blame the people who made the trailer.

Robert Downey Jr. is his usual fantastic, sarcastic, smarmy self which is always fun to watch, his supporting cast has panache, and Guy Ritchie's directing style is certainly unique but somehow this film still fails to deliver.  I think that despite all this greatness, the story itself is what dragged the movie down.  There was a lack of clarity surrounding the "bad guy" and his relationship with Holmes, which left the audience a little confused and therefore not as invested in the characters.

I wonder if there will be a third film, and if the trailer-makers will be able to fool me again...

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

This film from Finland certainly has a unique take on the tale of Santa Claus.  Without giving too much away, the premise here is that Santa is in fact an evil creature who has been lying dormant, frozen in a mountain, until a team of American archaeologists excavate him.  Mysterious-ness ensues.  Beautifully shot with some impressive production design, what this film lacks in depth of plot it makes up for in creativity.  I can pretty confidently say that you will never look at Santa, or his elves, the same way again.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I have an irrational love of action movies.  So it should come as no surprise that when I watched this movie, in IMAX, last night I left the theater with a smile on my face and the adrenaline pumping.  I specify IMAX because this film takes Ethan Hunt and his team all over the world, and besides beautiful establishing shots there are several exhilarating moments where I felt like I was actually in the movie, a very 3-D feeling without the glasses and headache haha

Very inventive, exciting chase/fight sequences paired with your typical end-of-the-world ridiculous plot, this movie almost seemed to be making fun of itself, with Tom Cruise delivering lines that seemed to poke fun at the whole Mission Impossible franchise.

My only real complaint?  The last four minutes of the film.  I don’t want to give anything away, but when you get there you will understand.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I love a good espionage movie, but I will be the first to admit that this film either went way over my head, or was just so boring I couldn’t concentrate.  It was convoluted to a fault; almost to the point where it seemed as though the writers weren’t sure how to explain/advance the plot so the whole “leaving it to audience interpretation” seemed more like “we don’t know what is going on, you figure it out”. 

Case and point, I went to a preview showing of this movie and walking out of the theater there were representatives standing at the door handing out explanatory fliers, which included definitions of terms and a flow chart of characters in the film.  A FLOW CHART.  Seriously?!?

The Devil's Double

Unfortunately I have to make this one a quickie... (holiday season paired with general busy-ness and an upcoming flight, so much to do!)

It was entirely unplanned to happen to watch two Dominic Cooper movies in a row, but regardless he was great in this film where he starred as both Uday Hussein and his body double.  Movie was entertaining overall, if not a bit holy (as in plot holes) and vague at times.  The End.  hahaha.

The Escapist

I always enjoy a good prison escape movie, and with a cast including Brian Cox, Dominic Cooper, Liam Cunningham, and Joseph Fiennes once this film hit my radar it was Game On.  The basic storyline being that Cox's character is in for life, which doesn't seem to bug him, until x happens and he suddenly has an overwhelming motivation to get out.  He recruits other key people, and escape planning and execution ensues.

What makes this film a little different from other basic prison escape movies is that it cuts back and forth between the planning and execution timelines, edited in such a way that you learn about the preparation details right as you see them implemented.

This ain't no Shawshank, however a twist here and tweak there will keep you guessing until the end...

HOP - Hugo and The Immortals

This was a surprisingly good hop.  Had certain expectations set in my mind and where one movie well exceeded them, the other hit them right on.

HUGO - Nothing at all what I expected, I can confidently say that this movie was amazing.  On all levels.  Sound design, acting, story, and an overall beautiful and poignant piece of work.  It takes a little long to really hit its stride, but once it does, oh man.  I don't want to say too much, as I feel that watching without preconceptions is that best way to absorb this film, but I will say one thing - don't let the fact that this film is portrayed as a children's movie fool you...

THE IMMORTALS - I expected nothing from this film, other than an incredibly ripped and gorgeous Henry Cavill, and that is exactly what I got.  Plot?  Not important.  Continuity?  Pay no mind.  Just sit back and let the dirty sweaty abs distract you from thinking about the discord that is this film.  The only reason to watch this film is for the eye candy, and if you keep that in mind you will be quite satisfied with your viewing.

Trespass

Not as raw as Panic Room, or as entertaining as Hostage, this home-invasion movie is simply bland.  All the characters are stereotyped - Nicholas Cage as nerdy secretive businessman, Nicole Kidman as hot wife, a spoiled daughter, plus the typical accouterment of bad guys - desperate guy, violent guy, crackhead chick, etc.  There was one super hot bad guy, which was a plus.

The climax of the film was indistinguishable from the rest of the movie, I was like wait, that's it?  Someone once told me that Cage is only good in movies where he has a mullet, and I think I may have to agree...

HOP - The Rum Diary and In Time

This was a horrible hop.  So bad that I was seriously considering not blogging about it and wiping the experience from my memory.  But then again the popcorn and Junior Mints tasted good, so not all was lost.

THE RUM DIARY - Boring.  Pointless.  Slow.  What was the genre of this film?  There was nothing dramatic about it, nothing scary, nothing adventuresome or magical.  There was a "love interest" but nothing that would count as romance, and one or two brief comedic moments but Giovanni Ribisi acting as a drunk does not a comedy make.  Johnny Depp was a faint shadow of the great actor most people know and love, going through the paces without his usual energy and enthusiasm.  Here's to hoping his next Tim Burton pair-off, Dark Shadows, will revive him.

IN TIME - Ok, so I know anything starring Justin Timberlake comes with certain set (meaning low) expectations but the premise of this movie was so cool that I had to go see it regardless.  Oops.  The film took a perfectly interesting plot and made it dumb.  Timberlake's acting was uniquely below par, and Amanda Seyfried clearly thought she was on set to model, not act, choosing every available moment to strike a pose.  There was gaping plot holes, shoddy dialogue, and early deaths of any actor who had a shred of hope in saving the film.  Well, actually I am not sure anyone could have saved this wreck...

Hesher

I am not sure who exactly I would recommend this movie to, but I would definitely recommend it to someone.  It is one of those movies where no matter how I describe it it is going to sound pretty bad; thinking about it now I am not sure I can find words to tell you about this film without making it seem depressing and boring.  But please trust me on this - Hesher is one of the best films I have seen in a while.  This hollywood drama comes off as feeling quite indie, it is a gem of a raw, gritty story both disturbing, quirky, and beautiful.  

Tower Heist

Eddie Murphy is back, and channeling Axel Foley.  Match that with Ben Stiller's more subdued yet still classic persona, Matthew Broderick's deadpan timing, and a slightly neurotic Casey Affleck and you have a recipe for some pretty funny shizzle.  With this strong cast and several other recognizable faces Tower Heist cannot help but be an enjoyable watch.  The funny is just there, without even really trying.  I found myself audibly laughing at some of the dialogue, when in most situations a comedic movie simply elicits a smile.  The end felt rushed and incomplete, so much so that I stayed through all the credits hoping for a final "secret" scene, but other than that I really have very little to complain about.  Ridiculous and fun, just let the witty banter wash over you as you feel all warm and fuzzy (and hopeful) that Murphy has finally stepped away from the seriously dumb.

Season of the Witch

My friend and I were looking for a not-so-scary scary movie to watch on Halloween, and cruising through Netflix we wound up on this flick.  The reasoning being that it should be just scary enough with creepy witch chick, but that Nicolas Cage's bad acting would counteract the fear.  We were right!  There were a couple freaky/gross bubonic plague moments, but otherwise the film was more laughable than frightening.  Ron Perlman was hilarious in the why-the-frick-did-I-sign-up-for-this look he had on his face the entire time hahaha

Shade

Randomly came across this movie and found it hard to resist - stellar cast and a con-artist premise, without even pressing play this movie had a promising start.  Starring Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx (in one of his early roles), Stuart Townsend, and a surprisingly attractive Sylvester Stallone, to name a few names.  This 2003 flick comes off as low-budget, and I found it difficult to tell whether this was a chosen directorial style or simply a lack of funds.  It had the cheesy smoke-filled-room-sad-sax-soundtrack that almost led me to believe that the film was attempting to hit a specific stylistic note, which maybe just did not resonate with me.  However, I do love a good con and this film has a couple to share.

30 Days of Night

In honor of Halloween I made sure to get a scary movie from Netflix.  Now granted that horror is not my genre, so I stayed away from the likes of Paranormal Activity and anything else that could potentially interrupt my sleep patterns haha  I chose this particular film primarily for its (non-glittery) vampire theme, and the presence of Ben Foster.  Much to my dismay Foster did not play a main role, and in fact was barely in the film at all.  My high hopes were crushed, along with my opinion of this movie.  This flick just ended up being kinda, sorta, really just pretty dumb.  There was only one truly scary character, and that is only because she looked like a vampire-alien and surprisingly [to my knowledge] there has not yet been a film that addresses that issue...

HOP - The Thing and The Three Musketeers

Starting off I did not have a lot of hope for this hop, but I was in crazy gotta-hop mode and these two fit together perfectly.  Hence I wound up with a scary movie I told myself I wouldn't watch, and a poor poor excuse for a musketeer film.

THE THING (2011) - Let me start by saying that I did indeed watch the 1982 version of this film, so sort of knew what to expect going in.  The CGI was crazy freaky, and I will admit I jumped several times.  My eyes may have closed for  a moment or two as well... which is why I don't usually watch movies like this!  Very suspenseful, I kept trying to guess who was next on the alien-impersonating-my-body list.  Especially loved how it ended, tying in so perfectly with the 1982 film.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS - This is the worst movie I have seen in a long time.  I think I am being so harsh because I truly love the story and this film was just a mockery.   How the producers got names like Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, and especially Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz to attach themselves to this disaster I have no idea.  Blatantly obvious green screen work, a terribly distracting soundtrack, and embarrassingly bad script are just a few of the piss-poor elements that forge together in what should have been a straight-to-dvd film.  If you want to watch a film about the musketeers I recommend Disney's 1993 version - besides Chris O'Donnell's ridiculous hair it is infinitely better on all accounts.

Limitless

Any movie that takes two viewing sessions for me to watch is not a good one in my book.  I got so bored with the this movie I only made it forty-five minutes in before I turned it off and just went to bed.  But the next day I was like no, give it a chance, and so I finished the film.  The second half was definitely better than the first half, but the whole self-narration aspect kind of drove me crazy.

Interesting concept, with a pill that allows you to access the full power of your brain, best illustrated when used to try and escape bad guys, but overall did not live up to its potential.  Bradley Cooper's pretty face but lack of acting skills may be the reason... no, no, it was the self-narration that killed it for me.

HOP - The Ides of March and Drive

Through no specific planning of my own, I have managed to pull off an all-Gosling-all-the-time hop.  Tight shirts and side-swept hair abounds.

THE IDES OF MARCH - This film had a pretty baller cast, and with it's tight script was quite well acted.  My only real complaint there was that it took me a bit longer than it should have to sort out which character was which, and what their roles were.  To me, initial character development was a little confusing.  I also felt like due to my aversion to politics I missed a lot of subtleties of the film.  Despite this, the film was entertaining and kept me guessing as to the direction in which it was headed.  Who is double crossing who?  Oh right, it is politics.  Everyone is screwing everyone.

DRIVE - This film was a piece of work.  The vision behind this movie is unique, and the execution of that vision is played out with variable success.  The director clearly had specific ideas for each facet of every scene, as every aspect of each shot has a deliberateness about it.  The style here is undeniable - editing, lighting, directing, acting - everything about this film has a strong motivation behind it.  In my opinion it is a little cross-dissolve happy, the pace is a bit jumpy, and the way it jumps from one "feel" to the next is pretty abrupt (such as in the elevator scene) but Drive is a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in film.  The cinematography especially was pretty mind-blowing.

Passion Play

One of the weirdest movie premises, with the most mis-matched cast.  This film is from 2010, after Mickey Rourke did The Wrestler and Iron Man 2.  He should be going onwards and upwards, not skittering sideways.  Bill Murray and Megan Fox also star in this film about a down-and-out trumpet player who discovers a beautiful girl at a carnival - who has wings.  The CGI/green screen effects look dated, like someone is just fiddling with the technology for the very first time.  In their basement.  And the wrap-up, holy crapoly.  We are talking clutching-at-straws-no-sleep-against-a-deadline-how-does-this-end desperation here.  Someone clearly threw in the towel on this film, I am just shocked they got these actors to go down with them.  Well, maybe not so surprised that Fox went along with it...

Contagion

Don't touch me.  And I am not touching you.  Or the phone.  Or that keyboard.  It has been awhile since a virus epidemic movie has been released, and the paranoia is now back.  Not as exciting as Outbreak, or as disturbing as Blindness, this film nonetheless makes you think twice when the person next you coughs.   Overall the movie was a little flat, lacking the ups and downs that most movies need to keep their momentum.  There was no true sense of urgency, so the excitement was sapped.  You just leave the theater feeling dirty, and hoping that if enough of these apocalyptic-scenario movies get released maybe the government will eventually form an effective plan for dealing with those kinds of situations.

Most important reminder from this movie (besides to wash your hands)?  A person is smart, but people are dumb.

The Conspirator

Boring.  Two hours of boredom.  In a film in which the entire plot is based around its characters I formed no emotional attachment whatsoever to the individuals or their predicaments, did not care one lick about the trial, and Justin Long was completely miscast.  The entire thing was stagnant and dry, no life in either the acting or the plot.  A woman who owns the boarding house that hosted the Lincoln assassinators is put on a totally rigged military trial for her alleged part in the conspiracy.  Could have made for some powerful courtroom drama, but not even working in flashbacks could save this walking dead.

Real Steel

I saw this movie with a good crowd.  The kind of interactive crowd that makes seeing a bad movie not quite so bad.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Real Steel was bad, I am just implying that it was not as good as I thought it would be.  The film missed all the moments that could have made it great.  All the opportunities it had to really make an emotional impact it simply glossed over.  Now I bet at this very second you are thinking, hey now hold on you are talking about "emotional impact" in a movie about boxing robots?!  But darn it, just because this is a geeky techno action flick doesn't mean it can just forget about the human story.  And then when it did decide to focus in on the father-son "realization" it pushed it way too hard, and way too late in the story.  Close-up-on-tear-from-boy's-face-to-close-up-on-Jackman's-one-time-lover-back-to-tear-back-to-lover-now-slow-mo-on-Jackman-shadow-boxing-now-back-to-tear.  I can almost feel them in the edit suite bashing out that gem, HA.  All the priceless moments I kept routing for never happened.  But that doesn't mean it wasn't fun to watch ;)

Tron: Legacy

Even the nostalgia I was feeling towards the 1980s' Tron could not save the crappiness of this new version.  Disregarding everything else that was bad about this film, the main problem is that it is completely confusing!  Now I am admittedly not a tech junkie, but the explanations for every major aspect of the plot were such a mumble jumble of incomprehensible jargon that you cannot help but watch like a deer in headlights.  I am not stupid, and this Disney movie is only rated PG, so how is it that I can sit through the entire thing and still not fully understand the premise behind the film?!?  It was also a little odd how there was this good guy who inexplicably went bad and then suddenly at the right moment inexplicably went good again.  No.  Just no.  Although I will give a tilt of my hat to Michael Sheen hahaha

Unknown

It is odd, even with Liam Neeson being one of my favorite actors and the film being in my genre sweet spot, I don't really have anything glowing to say about it.  In fact, I saw it last night and by this morning I don't have any particular feelings towards it at all.  I don't remember loving it or hating it, I wasn't bored as the plot is one of those "guess what is going on" types but at the same time I found myself not really caring what was going on haha  All the elements were there, it just didn't come together for me.

HOP: Moneyball and Killer Elite

It had been far far too long since I have had the chance to write a blog entry - meaning it had been an insanely long time since I watched a new movie!  But here I am, back with a hop and a vengeance.

MONEYBALL - Was not sure what to expect with this movie, the trailers made the film look engaging yet I knew going in that my sports-movie interest is way low.  And funny enough, that is exactly what it was - engaging yet simultaneously a little boring for the not-interested-in-baseball types like me.  Parts that I found slow and dragging may be incredibly exciting for sports enthusiasts, but I found the endless talk of stats to be a bit over my head.  It was nice to see Brad Pitt in a leading role that did not revolve around him being a pretty boy, and equally nice to see Jonah Hill in a role other than crude comedian.  Both actors were excellent, and I enjoyed the way the film worked in archival footage to lend a "truthful documentary" effect.

KILLER ELITE - Stop with the romantic flashbacks.  Please, no more.  I am here to see an action movie, not pointless meaningless flashes of a second-thought cursory love story.  Geesh, know your audience!!!  Putting that aside, the movie did deliver on some levels - hands down best moment is Jason Statham kicking two guys' asses while tied to a chair.  Hardcore.  Although then you have to balance that out with a car chase that had no point, with the two people ending up at the exact same place they started... felt like a post-production afterthought.  But then again there was that other "remotely take control of the truck" scene that was pretty cool... I guess the bottom line is that with this movie, you have to take the bad with the good.

Anna and the King

Want to know what the most unexpected part of this movie was?  Seeing Draco Malfoy as a young english boy, the son of Jodie Foster's "Anna".  Every time he was on screen my warped mind just kept thinking Death Eater Death Eater!  Anyway, putting that tidbit aside the rest of the film was what you would expect - a lush period drama with a touch of romance and war.  Not generally my cup of tea, but it is a beautiful film and Foster's performance really stood out.

HOP - Colombiana and Fright Night

Two movies from which I did not know what to expect, but I did figure that I was not going to be watching any Oscar-worthy performances or gripping story-telling...

COLOMBIANA - Zoe Saldana is a beautiful woman, and that seemed to be what this movie was all about.  At least that is what I got out of it.  There were so many goofs and continuity glitches, I found myself distracted from whatever threads of storyline that there were.  The best scene in the whole movie, in my opinion, is at the beginning when as a young girl our main character performs feats of parkour while making a mad escape through the streets of Bogota.  The opening credits were pretty sweet too...

FRIGHT NIGHT - Not having yet seen the 1985 original I cannot speak to how this re-make stood up, but with this un-biased viewing I have to say the film was unexpectedly enjoyable.  A little long, no need for it to clock in at two hours, but an interesting combination of goofy and scary.  Also it had a solid amount of both predictable and unpredictable parts, so that kept things spicy.  Some odd directorial choices, such as the weirdly foggy "look" whenever characters were inside a dark house, or the apparent confusion as to how dark "night" actually is haha  And while they may not have been award-winning performances, Anton Yelchin and especially Colin Farrell certainly had fun in their roles

Absolute Power

I have a love/hate relationship with Clint Eastwood, sometime both at the same time haha.  But this film is not just Clint, it is also Ed Harris, Gene Hackman, and several other familiar faces.  The plot is familiar - the President does something bad and his team must cover it up; but wait, there is a witness!  Despite the familiar storyline this movie was great, that is until the end; very anticlimactic.  The movie is proceeding building all this tension and then suddenly everything resolves itself.  It was like being in a sports car racing around a winding back-country road to suddenly slam on the brakes.  Not cool.

The Code

Who doesn't love Morgan Freeman?  But paired with Antonio Banderas?  hmmm...  This movie also had that guy who is always a bad Russian, so we are casting quite the international gamut.  Ooo I just discovered something interesting... on Netflix this movie is called "The Code" but on IMDb this movie is called "Thick as Thieves".  Dual title?  Also, this movie never made it to theaters and was released straight to DVD.  I mean, it is definitely nothing special but it is certainly better than some of the other crap out there on the big silver screen.  Freeman seems to be calling it in, and Banderas' character is just confusing, and while I do love heist movies the twists in this one are simply dumb.  blech.

Europa Europa

This German/French/Polish film is about a young boy during WWII who in trying to conceal his Jewish identity joins the Hitler Youth.  An emotional movie, the main character is constantly reinventing who he is in order to survive the various circumstances in which he finds himself.  There is an ever present fear of being discovered, and a longing not to have to hide or worry anymore.  "Miracles" keep happening for this boy, to the point where you start to wonder when his luck is going to run out...  Mediocre acting, but a gripping tale, I am willing to concede that a few things were probably lost in translation.

Killers

I needed something brainless after a long day, and this film fit the bill to a T.  In fact, it was so brainless that I felt stupider after watching it.  The movie should be renamed "Dumb and Dumbest".  If you want to see Katherine Heigl whining and throwing fits and Ashton Kutcher failing embarrassingly at trying to be a badass then this if for you.  Don't fall into the same trap I did thinking that maybe, just maybe, this film might be "cute".  Steer clear of its plot pitfalls and shockingly bad acting.  Better to watch paint dry.

Kalifornia

One of Brad Pitt's earlier films, it is interesting to see him play a poor white trash serial killer.  But even cast as such he is still one pretty man.  There is one scene where he is digging an enormous hole, all covered in dirt shoveling away, and for a brief moment you forget what a bad actor he is.  People are generally shocked when I say that, but I honestly just don't think he is that fabulous.  He has been in some great films, like Se7en and Interview with the Vampire, but it is not due to his performance that those films are so awesome.  Anyway, this movie had an interesting premise but turned out to be less than stellar.

HOP - 30 Minutes or Less and The Help

There are a couple interesting-looking films out right now, so it was hard to determine which movies to go for on this hop.  But timing made the decision for me, and I am happy to say it was an enjoyable evening.

30 MINUTES OR LESS - This film was just ridiculous; much of the dialogue was so funny on its own that it did not matter the two main characters, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari, had no comic chemistry of their own.  Individually I think Eisenberg was good in The Social Network, but his other films have fallen flat on me.  As to Ansari, I just find him kind of annoying.  Lots of profane language and stupidity, and while I cannot wholly endorse this movie to anyone I do have to admit that there were several moments of some seriously laugh-out-loud funny shit.  But be warned: before watching you have to accept the fact that many things that happen, and decisions made, will make no sense whatsoever.

THE HELP - Definitely some Oscar nominations coming up for this film.  It was really incredible - art direction, storyline, and above all the acting.  Damn.  You could feel the heat of the Mississippi summer, and the tension of the era.  Watching this film you will find yourself muttering some profanity of your own under your breath, and mentally pushing our protagonist forth in her quest.  I don't want to label it as a tearjerker, but I would lie if I said a drop or two didn't find their way down my cheeks.  But on a side note, before you go catch this in the theater make sure to eat something as there is some fine looking food in this film.

The Adjustment Bureau

Would I have paid to see this movie in the theater?  No.  Was it worth a Netflix delivery?  Yes.  The basic idea behind this Matt Damon flick is that people have no free will; their life "plan" is controlled by the men/angels of the Adjustment Bureau who make tiny adjustments in peoples' decision-making to keep them on a pre-destined path.  The conflict arises when our hero must attempt to utilize his free will to stay with the love of his life, played by Emily Blunt.  Interesting concept, predictable ending.

River's Edge

Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, and Dennis Hopper star in a film truly from the 80s, complete with jean vests and exclamations of "radical".  River's Edge tells the story of a group of friends and how they react when one of them kills his girlfriend, and shows off her dead body to the rest.  The movie paints a picture of delinquency - truant kids with no solid home base smoking, drinking, stealing, and otherwise with no regard for authority.  Loyalty to one another is of high regard, and a warped perspective of what is "right" and "wrong" influence their every move.  An interesting film, better than I expected.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

You would never think strange things about Antonio Banderas' acting career based on the majority of his Hollywood performances, but take a step back and look at his filmography as a whole and you run into some strange stuff.  In this specific case I refer to "strange stuff" as a film about a young man recently released from a mental hospital who kidnaps a porn star he once slept with to convince her to be his wife.  He believes that if he ties her up she will eventually fall in love with him.  Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, a famous Spanish filmmaker, there is something about this film which makes you feel uncomfortable yet oddly curious.

Kid's Night: Tangled and The Secret of Moonacre

No, I was not with any kids the other night.  I just felt a bit of "brain overload" and what better way to cure it then kids movies?  Nothing complicated, just colors, stories, and fantasy.

TANGLED - I steered clear of this one when it first came out - the Rapunzel story is fun, but watching the trailer and seeing how the hair seemed to have a mind of its own sort of threw me off.  Rapunzel's character was nothing of note, and the songs were "eh", but the one character that made me laugh my butt off was the horse Maximus.  If Disney can do anything right it is making awesome animal sidekicks.

THE SECRET OF MOONACRE - I stumbled upon this flick whilst browsing Netflix and my first reaction was how have I not heard of this movie?!  A fantasy film which contains similar elements to other movies such as Inkheart, this movie fell in the realm of so-much-potential-yet-just-not-quite-there category.  Definitely not "really really bad" but I can see where it got lost along the way.  The film has talent with Tim Curry, Ioan Gruffudd, and Dakota Blue Richards (the girl from The Golden Compass) and the costumes were fabulous, but the story itself wasn't up to snuff.  Also kind of confusing since the actors played characters that appeared in both past and present, without any indication of "magic potion" implying they lived for hundreds of years... left me with a feeling of wait, what?

Barney's Version

I am not usually into the sappy "life story" stuff, but this movie was pretty remarkable.  Weaving together past and present, the film tells the story of Barney - played by Paul Giamatti - his highs and lows through his relationships with friends, father, and three marriages.  Clocking in at just over two hours the movie does feel a bit long at times, but trust me it is worth it.  I don't think I could sound any cheesier, but in all seriousness I say this - you will laugh and you will cry as you pass through what is one of Giamatti's finest performances of his career.

The Thing

Watched John Carpenter's The Thing the other night - heard scary things about dogs and Antarctica so I had to invite a couple friends over to watch with me... being the non-horror person the film's rep made me nervous haha.  Let me start by saying that Kurt Russell had on a hat that literally negated the scarier aspects of the movie, he looked like Yosemite Sam from Looney Tunes.  However, that being said, I will admit that there were one or two moments where I jumped and several times where it was necessary to pull a blanket up (if for no other reason than shear grossness factor).  Hear a re-make is being made of this 1980s wonder, but not sure it will be able to stand up...

Blood Creek

How could you go wrong with a movie about an occult-obsessed Nazi zombie?  hmmm I may have just answered my own question...  Even the extreme hotness of Henry Cavill could not distract this movie watcher from the film's horrible execution.  So the premise was a little "off", but alongside Cavill it could have been saved by supporting cast Dominic Purcell and Michael Fassbender.  Yet there was way too much randomness in the beginning of the film and then just weird inconsistencies paired with pretty terrible CGI throughout.  I understand it may seem hard to convincingly portray a horse crashing through a window to bite someone on the shoulder meanwhile getting its neck blown to bits, but still.  And again with the horses - they are in the corral, they are stampeding in circles outside the corral, they are in the corral, they are back out stampeding.  So many parts that made no sense!  But don't worry, there is a happy ending.

Cedar Rapids

Not very funny.  Really, just not very good.  Except for the line "I don't trust guys with ponytails"  hahaha  But seriously John C. Reilly?  Why?  And I think I simply just don't like Ed Helms; not in The Office, not in The Hangover, and not in this.

Crazy Stupid Love

Wow.  For all the ladies out there, you should see this film if only for Gosling's body.  Damn.  He may be a butterface, but those abs... HA.  Yeah, I said it.  Seriously though, despite some glorious eye-candy, Emma Stone and Steve Carell were the best part of this movie.  In one scene Stone is discussing logistics as she is trying to "bang" Gosling and all I could think of was that she reminds me of someone... haha

A fun movie, with some really fabulous montage scenes, but in my opinion it was definitely too long.  By like a half hour.  You will have to be able to sit through some very romantic cheeseball moments, but they don't last too long and this movie is worth it for the comedy.  Worth it like rainy matinee worth it, not Saturday night worth it.