London Boulevard

I honestly don't know what to say about this film, other than pointing out the fact that it is British, so that should give you a general idea of where I stand ;)

There were a few really fabulous scenes in this movie, and some stunning shots, but overall with the thick accents I couldn't understand what the characters were saying half the time!  Plot was familiar yet intriguingly twisted and the supporting case was solid.  You might argue that it was the fragile beauty of Keira Knightley or the aggressive yet sensitive Colin Farrell that was distracting, but I say no, no I think it was the garbley-accented dialogue.

Overall, probably the same issue that I had with Snatch - what otherwise would have been a perfectly enjoyable movie ruined by my inability to comprehend thick accents of the UK.  Don't hold it against me, or the movie, but you have been fairly warned that turning english subtitles on may be beneficial...

Midnight in Paris

Overall, I think I just don't like Woody Allen.  I enjoyed Scoop, and Match Point, but other than that I have never liked Allen's films.  They are too... meandering.  They never seem to really be going anywhere.  No climax, nothing moving the story forward, just characters chillin' haha  The time travel aspect was cool but I would have liked it if Allen had delved even more deeply into that concept, letting Owen Wilson's character explore the strange circumstances and question his surroundings.  Also, to be honest, the film may have been too smart for me as I didn't come close to recognizing all the name drops that kept popping up; and therefore some of the subtleties may have been beyond my grasp.

This film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, so come this Sunday's awards ceremony we will see whether it goes down in history... I will give the film this - it certainly made me want to walk the streets of Paris.

The Guard

I would say that British films are generally not my cup of tea, but upon checking I found that this is in fact an Irish film, and now I know those really aren't for me.  I wanted to like this movie, with its strong cast including Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, and Mark Strong, but I found myself struggling with the "Stop" button on my remote after only fifteen minutes.  Around seventeen minutes Cheadle makes his appearance, which caught my interest but that attention only lasted for about five or ten minutes before I find my mind wandering again.  At some point shortly thereafter I fell asleep.  That is right, someone who never passes out in the middle of a movie-watch completely passed out less than forty-five minutes into this film.  However, all that being said let me just add that I did find some solid humor in the film, at least in the parts I was awake for haha  Maybe the accents just have a hypnotic affect on me...

Safe House

If it has got Denzel, it has got to be good.  At least that is one of my many movie-watching mantras.  But this movie, with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds, had my expectations way up.  I will be honest, I expected a bit more ass-kickery from Denzel, but while in this flick he went more along the run-and-gun route (literally) have no fear as there is some quality hands-on butt-kicking done by Reynolds.  Speaking of, as much as I love the witty-sarcastic-funny Reynolds it was refreshing to see him in a more serious action-crime role.

The plot is predictable, but for this movie I found myself really not caring.  I call this the Denzel Effect.  He makes even the simplest, shortest line of dialogue powerfully awesome.  Chaos might reign about him, and the look on his face is priceless.  As with Ghost Protocol, ignore the last few minutes of the film (ugh) and just focus on the hour-forty that was previous; you will leave with your adrenaline pumping.

HOP - The Grey and Man on a Ledge

Yay brainless movie hop!

THE GREY - I actually really enjoyed this movie.  There are aspects of it that are totally ridiculous, like falling in a rushing Alaskan river in the middle of winter, crawling out with layer upon layer of heavy soaked clothing and backpack, with no fire, and not succumbing to hypothermia.  Dumb.  There were also several unintentionally comic aspects, like when the alpha wolf took one slow, deliberate step forward (HA you have to see it)  Overall though, this film was surprisingly different and refreshing.  The director chose to shoot with a lot of close-ups (and extreme close-ups) giving you the sense that you are really in it with these men struggling to survive.  The audio mix is fantastic, snow crunching, wind whipping, wolves howling all combining to give you goose pimples.  With this film you have to take the ridiculous with the good, but I think it is worth it.  And how can you not love Liam Neeson, and his awesome voice?

MAN ON A LEDGE - Predictable and dumb, this is a fairly typical hollywood action/crime/thriller.  I would say my favorite parts are when the story focused on Jamie Bell and his gf performing the heist, but Genesis Rodriguez was so over the top.  Trying way too hard, in an awkwardly obvious way, to be "the sexy heist chick".  I mean seriously, who wears gigantic hoop earrings to shimmy through an air duct?  But I do like Bell, and think it is interesting to see how his career has progressed.  But back to the movie as a whole.  Despite the many-starred cast, I do not believe that this film is worth your time or money.  Just say no.