What?

Ugh, I don't even remember which films I've seen since I last posted. The ones I do remember are...

Like Crazy - Such an honest and touching love story. Very realistic and heartbreaking. Very good.

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas - Mindless, silly fun. NPH!

Puss in Boots - Not as clever and entertaining as Shrek, but those kitties are so cute!

The Descendants - I still dislike Clooney, but The Descendants was fantastic. Very funny and a great story. Outstanding performance by Shailene Woodley.

My Week with Marilyn - Nice picture. Stellar performance by Michelle Williams.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - It's always a treat to see Downey and Law interact with one another. They have great onscreen chemistry. This installment wasn't quite as fun as the original, but was still quite a good time. Needed more McAdams!

New Year's Eve - I will give it this - it got better as it went on. Zac Efron!

Take Shelter

It's been like a month since the major studios released something worth seeing. Thank goodness the independent studios are still making good movies. Take Shelter stars Michael Shannon as a small town construction worker who begins to experience delusions and fears that he may be suffering from schizophrenia. I liked this picture. It's not showy, but it's interesting and has some good performances.

Also, Martha Marcy May Marlene opened this week. I highly recommend that picture.

The Rum Diary

Last weekend I saw The Rum Diary. It's not as trippy as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (another Hunt S. Thompson story), but it's quirky and funny and moderately enjoyable.

October 7 Weekend

The title rhymes. Enough said.










As much as I dislike Clooney as an actor, I will give him props as a filmmaker. The Ides of March is a terrific picture full of great performances (Gosling!) and slick movie making.

September 30 Weekend

Despite (my arch nemesis) Seth Rogen being in the cast, 50/50 is a great dramedy with a lot of heart. Funny and sweet picture.







I think Anna Faris is hilarious and I really like Chris Evans, so I was disappointed that What's Your Number? wasn't all that great. Truth be told, I'm still kind of torn about this one. It started off dreadfully, but I will give it credit for getting better as it went on and it did make me laugh a few times.

Moneyball

I'm not all about Brad Pitt, nor am I all about baseball (I'd rather watch paint dry), but put them together and it's a winning combination. Moneyball is a great film. Good, solid storytelling (Sorkin can do no wrong) and terrific performances.

Drive

Drive stars the always fantastic Ryan Gosling as a professional stunt driver and part time getaway driver who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd. It's a super stylish, noir-ish kind of crime drama. Totally captivating.

Contagion

The big draw in this picture is the terrific ensemble cast - and it doesn't disappoint. Contagion is a clever and slick Outbreak-y picture depicting the spread of an unknown virus. It's scary in a "this could happen" kind of way and the story telling makes it gripping.

This is Embarrassing

Let me see if I can even remember all of the movies I've seen....

The Change-Up: Pretty decent comedy. Not the gold medal I was hoping for, but Bateman and Reynolds save it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Like everyone else, I thought this was surprisingly good!

The Help: Clearly one of the best pictures of the year thus far. Great film.

30 Minutes or Less: Beyond bored at this one. I think Eisenberg was terribly miscast.

One Day: My second most anticipated movie of the summer. Sweet and funny; great love story.

Our Idiot Brother: Good comedy. Great cast.

The Debt: Great, great thriller.

Sarah's Key: Wonderful movie. Engrossing, heartbreaking story.

The Whistleblower: Solid picture based on true events. Worth seeing for Weisz's performance.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Sneak preview showing of this. Even got to participate in a Q & A with the writer/director Sean Durkin and star Elizabeth Olsen. This was a truly terrific indie film. Very subtle, but haunting. Great performance by Elizabeth Olsen.

I really hope I didn't forget anything.

July 29 Weekend

Not quite what I was expecting, but still good. Worth seeing for Ryan Gosling alone.








Nice action flick! Good film, but I felt like there was something missing, though.

Maybe I Should Just Rename My Blog "Catch Up"

Finally saw this one. Very stylish! Good flick!









Super good! I love that it felt like an old movie. Very well done.









So funny! Sweet too. Better than No Strings Attached. Great cameo from the always awesome Emma Stone.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Farewell, dear friends.

4th of July and Week After

I lived through Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. I mean, I didn't gnaw off my arm off from boredom or anything. It was okay. There's always good action, but the two and a half hour running time was unnecessary.





The same weekend, I saw Larry Crowne. Eh, it was okay. Rather flat, though. Not very many laughs. I did enjoy Julia Roberts' character though. She made me chuckle a few times.






A film that was not flat and had quite a few laughs was Horrible Bosses. I really liked this movie! The cast was great - Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day were hysterical together. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Ferrell were so good at being bad. It was a laugh out loud kind of movie.



By the way, on June 10, I saw Kung Fu Panda 2, but for some reason, neglected to blog about it. It was pretty cute, as far as kiddie animated films go. Had some nice laughs.

The Good and the Bad

I'll surely update this post with more details, but I wanted to at least get it on the board.

Last week I saw The Tree of Life. If you've read/heard anything about this movie, you know that I just can't sum it up in a few words. This one will definitely take some time.






A great smaller picture I saw this week was Beginners. It's a quiet, quirky portrait of loss, love and the relationships that make us who we are. It's a great picture.






I was deeply disappointed with Bad Teacher. I was expecting awesome raunchy fun like Bad Santa and instead I felt like I was watching Mildly Inappropriate Teacher. I was really looking forward to this one...too bad. I'm hoping Horrible Bosses will be everything this movie is not.

Super

Last week I saw Super 8. It was super awesome! Super good story! Super good cast! Super entertaining!









Speaking of super, this week I checked out the latest super hero flick, Green Lantern. I have to say that it was just okay; bit disappointing. It wasn't very super. Ryan Reynolds was yummy though.

Last Week

So last week I saw X-Men: First Class. It was really good! I don't know enough about comic book lore to judge how true the movie is to the original story, but I thought it was darn good on its own. Nice performances and cool effects too!

Big Recap

Obviously, I've lost interest in my blog. Let's see if I can even remember all of the movies I haven't posted about yet. These aren't even in order...

The Hangover II - It was okay. Not as much fun as the original, though.

Midnight in Paris - So charming! Really cute picture. Allen's best since Match Point. Although, I thought Owen Wilson was unbelievably annoying. Thank goodness Rachel McAdams was there!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Proved my theory that another Pirates movie was unnecessary. Bit of a bore.

Bridesmaids - I saw this movie twice! I loved it. Super funny!!

Something Borrowed - I was pleasantly surprised! This movie was actually funny and entertaining. Not as good as the book, but nothing ever is.

Thor - Pretty good super hero flick. Didn't seem to have a lot of depth though. The parts on Earth were by far the best! Go Natalie!

Insidious - Fine little fright flick. Not too bad. Patrick Wilson goodness!

Scream 4 - I'm a huge Scream fan, so I was a little disappointed that Scream 4 didn't live up to my dreams. I did like it though. And look at Emma Roberts as the bad girl. Wow!

Your Highness - Good for a couple of laughs. The ridiculousness made me chuckle.

Arthur - Wasn't as funny as I was hoping, but not too bad. I'm still waiting for American filmmakers to create the perfect vehicle for Russell Brand. He's great!

Hanna - Very sharp and strong little action thriller.

Source Code

What I liked about Source Code was that it was super original. It was very creative and wasn't your typical action movie. Good flick!

March 25 Weekend

I checked out Cedar Rapids this weekend. This was a good smaller picture. Pretty funny and rather inappropriate. Always a good combination.

March 18 Weekend

The Lincoln Lawyer was a solid legal thriller. Good story and pretty entertaining. I thought I'd be thinking of Jake Brigance the entire time, but I wasn't. McConaughey did a good job. It was kinda fun to see he and Josh Lucas share the screen - good to know they're not the same person. Haha!



I loved Paul! I thought this movie was really clever and super funny! Go see Paul!

Battle: Los Angeles

Battle: Los Angeles got railed on by the critics, but it's really not that bad. It reminded me of other ensemble military action flicks like Black Hawk Down, although it's not quite as good. Good characters (Eckhart!!), a fine enough story and plenty of action throughout. A nice introduction to the big action blockbusters of the year.

March is Here

We're finally moving into spring and leaving behind the doldrums of winter cinema.

That being said, Take Me Home Tonight is a movie that should have opened in January or September. The long delayed film was somewhat of a bore to sit through and it just wasn't very funny.






The Adjustment Bureau was supposed to open in July 2010. After seeing it, I can see why it was moved to March of this year (after being slated for September of last year as well). That's not a negative in this case. I think it would have gotten lost among all of the summer blockbusters. I really liked this movie! What I adored was the interaction between Damon and Blunt. It was irresistible. My only complaint is that I wanted more of it. Actually, that would be my only complaint for the entire picture - I think it could have been longer and more detailed. As it is, it's a very tight picture and very entertaining, but I would have enjoyed an expanded version that explored everything a little more. I'll have to wait for the DVD.

Oscar Night

Even my Oscar post is late!!

The Oscars weren't particularly exciting this year...chalk it up to predictability. No surprise winners (mild surprise for Best Director) and no stunning moments from the broadcast. Franco and Hathaway got slammed for their lackluster hosting abilities, but I think more fault lies with the producers and writers of the show for not giving them good material to work with. They did the best with what they had, which wasn't much. I did think that Bullock was the best presenter - of course. Here's a pic of the well deserved winners.

Looking Forward to March

The movies haven't gotten off to a very stellar start this year. Quick reviews from weeks past...

I remember when The Company Men played at Sundance in January 2010. It got great reviews and I thought it'd be an Oscar contender this year, but the buzz for it kind of fizzled. It is a good movie, though. Fine performances and a good story. I wish it had just a little more heart, but otherwise a reasonably solid film.


While in California, I checked out the new Liam Neeson thriller Unknown. Neeson's carved out a nice action hero niche for himself and Unknown is a nice addition to his resume. My only complaint is that it seemed a little too long, but otherwise I thought it was a pretty fun action thriller. And I agree with my movie going companion - very Jason Bourne-y. :)

Have the Farrelly Brothers become irrelevant? I would expect so much more from them than the new comedy Hall Pass. The best parts are in the trailer and the rest of the movie just seems stale and poorly written. However, I will say that there one or two nice "red band" moments that weren't in the trailer, but not enough for my recommendation.

Oscar Time

I'm not going to do a post about the Oscar nominations. I think they were pretty much what everyone was expecting. And I do agree that Mila Kunis, The Town and Christopher Nolan (!!!) got snubbed.

If you haven't seen this promo yet, check it out. So cute!! I can't wait to see what Franco and Hathaway do as Oscar hosts.

A Couple of Weeks Ago

Over the past couple of weeks I've only seen three films. Well, four, if you count seeing The Social Network again.

I saw The Green Hornet purely for the director. I love everything Michel Gondry does. I'll give him credit for making The Greeen Hornet visually entertaining and worth while. Ultimately, I think it would have been a better movie if Seth Rogen had nothing to do with it. He pretty much sank it.



Blue Valentine was superb. Raw, emotionally rich and heart-wrenching performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Very good movie.







I felt a little deceived by the marketing of No Strings Attached. I thought Ashton and Natalie were supposed to be best friends. Not friends who barely knew each other. Additionally, the funniest scenes were in the trailer...and those scenes were cut from the movie! Poor choices. Ashton and Natalie did make a nice pairing and it was great to see Portman cut loose and have fun on screen, rather than shouldering another heavy role.

Holiday Round Up

I haven't been very motivated to keep up with my blog...Chalk it up to the poorest batch of holiday movies in recent years. There have been very few that I've even been slightly interested in seeing. That being said, I have been quite pleased with my few choices.

The King's Speech was great! A truly great story and told superbly.









True Grit was equally as superb. It was a truly fantastic film as well.









Rabbit Hole I thought was good, but it lacked a little bit of a punch. I think it works better as a play. I'm not complaining, I'll take any excuse to stare at Aaron Eckhart for two hours.






Oh, and I saw Black Swan for the second time. Go Natalie!