Extract

I never did watch Office Space, but I thought this was a charming little comedy. I didn't like Mila Kuniz or the character in this, but there would be no story without her. Ben Affleck and Kristen Wiig shined in this. I can't believe how funny Affleck was in this. The wig killed me. The factory workers were all morons. I thought they were played well. I thought I would have more to say about this one but I don't. It's a decent comedy.

Avatar

So this is my list of all time favourite movies. James Cameron has taken storytelling to a whole new level. I read that he had been working on this film since 1994 and has been waiting for technology to catch up to his vision. What a vision he had. I would love to talk to him about this movie like if the movie turned out the way he envisioned it. Whether it morphed into something else, or something more magical than he first thought of. This movie has many themes and played out like a classic book in an English class. It was environmental, anthropological, scientific, philosophical and futuristic. Cameron made me question whether human beings would go so far as invading another planet in order to strip it of it's natural resources. It was aesthetically pleasing. Extremely visual. I thought this movie was a masterpiece. It was a beautiful story and I think people should watch this in the theatre and watch it properly the way the movie was intended to be viewed.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

I'm not a sequel fan much, but this one was great. It's not as good as the first though. Probably why this one was good was because they put some thought into the story and writing. It was coherent and flowed. The characters were fabulous in this. There was less of the old characters in this. Amy Adams was delightful. I also loved that the art came to life. It was brilliant. I totally forgot about the plot of the movie. Hank Azaria's character wants the tablet to bring the underworld unto the world a recruits the help of Ivan the Terrible, Napolean and Al Capone to capture the gold tablet. As Daley runs around the Smithsonian, everything comes alive which makes it magical. I really enjoyed the sequel. If you liked the first one, I'm sure you will like this one.

Assassination of a High School President.

So I've been waiting to see this movie for awhile. This was a great little film. There was only three things wrong with. It had too many high school cliches, the casting was perfect except for Mischa Barton and the ending didn't fit the genre. Why I loved this movie was because it was a classic detective fiction piece meets high school. I think detective fiction can still be done without having to be "original" by having it played out in a high school setting. The style of the story played so close to detective fiction dialogue and plot. The dialogue in this is great. In fact, most the time it was witty and smart. Funke played by Reece Thompson has lines like ’ I’m on like your sister’s pink elastics on her brace’s. I’m really bad for remembering lines from movies, but the writing was fantastic and Reece played the role great. The only thing about detectives is that they are sexy and rugged and never have problems getting the girl and Funke was was short, nerdy and so not able to pick up girls, even if he tried. I cant’t forget to talk about Bruce Willis in this. He was hilarious. I wish he played these kinds of roles more often. His attitude in this was similar to when he played ’himself’ in What Just Happened. Although I did remember one of his lines correctly. “I asked you, is. That. Gum. In. YOUR MOUTH!!!” And then Funke’s response was f***ing hilarious. Too find out, you’ll just have to watch this movie.

My Faraway Bride

I love Hollywood meets Bollywood movies. This one wasn't that great. This one is definitely the worst one I've watched. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful, it just wasn't all that good. These movies tend to run into cliches left, right and centre, but this one was drenched in it. It could have used more singing and dancing. And the English songs could have been written better. I liked the character Bobby .K. and his relationship with his past friend 'Chintu' whom he left behind, but never forgot and has been waiting to make amends and has a chance to once he runs into her on his current Bollywood set. Since I liked the side story, I'm going to forget all about the main story, because that part wasn't well written. The idea of the story was good, but it got lost somewhere in the writing and the acting. It reminds me of Dim Sum Funeral, and I get the feeling that it probably has the same background story on how the movie got made. If you're looking for a good Bollywood meets Hollywood film, this isn't it.

Carriers

I saw a preview of this at the theatre thinking it was going to appear there sometime, so I was surprised to see it on the shelf at the video store. This movie is classified as horror, but I think it is more of a psychological thriller, if anything. The story is about some infectious disease which spreads from direct or airborne contact which kills you in a matter of a week. It's another movie about the end of the human race (think: Resident Evil), but from the perspective of the loss of humanity. I think I would have liked this movie better as a book. It was dismal and heartbreaking. Lou Taylor Pucci plays the younger brother to Chris Pine, and the dynamic between them and their extreme opposites in behaviour, personality and character is sad. It's hard to look at this movie as a horror, because the movie is undeniably sad. Although this poster totally freaks me out. Even the brothers lose their humanity for each other which sets the tone that survival is stronger than love, or least that's the message the movie says. I can see why this never made it to theatres in Canada, but I'm sure it was in theatres in the U.S., just like A Perfect Getaway played there but not here. If you're into end of humanity movies, this mighht be one you might want to take a look at.

Spread

So I thought this movie was about prostitution. I was off on the story, but this movie is definitely erotically charged. The basics of the movie are Kutcher's character's narration of his life in Las Angeles. He once in awhile gives tips on how to continue having sex with the same woman and so on. I though the writing was good. It makes me wonder if LA is really this superficial or its the only perspective of the city that people want to see. I thought the character Nikki played by Kutcher was a huge douche bag. Good looks and all, how he managed to pick up women and keep them baffles me. The earring was a bit much. He was a flaming metrosexual and whoever did costumes, just went a bit too far. Anne Heche is smoking hot in this. I'm surprised I'm saying it, but it's true. The character Heather played by Margarita Levieva was both winning and losing. As you get to know the character, she becomes less sassy and more sad and cliche. Although I liked the movie, I wouldn't be recommending it, because the cliches were just too much, even though the writing and dialougue were decent. Since Nikki narrates his story of how he reached his peak, then hit rock bottom and then learned his life lesson, his lesson was meaningless, materialistic and superficial. I think I would leave LA if my life became as pathetic as his. How degrading his end is, yet he seems to wear it humbly, which seems unusual for his character, since he had so many dreams and not once tried to work for any of them for himself. This movie is worth a view, but I can't say that you'll like it.

Angels and Demons

I liked the story of this one so much better than The DaVinci Code, but this one just didn't do nearly or even close to as well as the first. The thing about Brown, is he plays great attention to detail, so his story's are believable. As ridiculous as the plot was, it was believable. I'm not sure I liked the supporting actress in this. I don't think she was right. There was no chemistry between Langdon and her. I liked that the story took place in one city and not all over the place. When there is too much travelling, the story gets restless, so it starts having to lean on the hard to believe to propel the story further. I think the capturing of anti-matter theatrically worked better than the "holy grail" being the blood line of Jesus. Some stories are just meant to stay in books and some can be easily adapted to the screen. I'm not going to recommend this one, but I thought it was better than the first and I wonder if Brown's third book will become a movie too.

How To Be

I'm glad that Robert Pattinson got famous, because I don't think I would have ever got the chance to see this movie. This was a hilarious British comedy. It was dark and very human. Art was odd and I can't imagine there are too many people in the world who could say they are just like him. The writing was funny. The stuff that came out of the characters' mouthes were unexpected. And delightfully so. The commentary of the personal therapist was hilarious. The clothes were so bad. Art's parents were awesome. Art spent the whole movie trying to reach out to them, only to end up not wanting to be anywhere near them. His friends were hilarious. The parallel between Art and his car was fantastic. I just love quarter life crisis movies. I don't think this one is for everyone, but I think it's a "gem" using Blockbuster's terms.

Funny People

I didn't want to watch this in theatres once I found out it was 2 and a half hours long. This is Judd Apatow's most adult comedy yet. I'm sure he wrote the characters specifically for the actors he chose. As much as I love Leslie Mann, I would love to see her not in Apatow's next movie, and in someone else's movie, because she is a good actress. Another slight annoyance, is I'm sick of Rogen being in so many Apatow movies too. You have to keep it fresh and new, not the same old same old. I thought this would be the same old same old, but I was pleasantly surprised. This movie had great character development. As usual Shwartzman was hilarious. I loved all the jabs his character took. It was a parody and a well played one at that. I wonder if Apatow could write something better than this. It's possible this is going to be his finest piece. The story was great. I didn't think there would be so much stand-up in this, and I enjoyed it. The previews show thsi movie like it has two parts. The part where he is sick and the part when he is well. It actually flows better than the preview showed it to be. If you're interested in grown-up Apatow, this is the movie to watch.

The Blind Side

I loved this movie, it was fantastic. You know that any true story turned into a movie is bound to make you cry. The writing was great in this. It was a beautiful story. narration was perfect. It was great from beginning to end. There was nothing about this movie that I didn't like. I'm glad someone gave Bullock a decent script. She played the character well. Quinton Aaron who plays Michael a.k.a. Big Mike was darling in this. Jae Head who played SJ was perfect for the role. I don't think they could of found anyone better for the part. The entire casting of the film was perfect. I don't see this winning Oscars, but it certainly is a crowd pleaser. Imdb ranked it a 7.8 out of 10 which is a pretty high rating for a movie on there. It's a feel good movie, a feel good story and I think everyone should watch this one.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

So this movie was more of an experience for me. I went the Saturday it came out and went 2 and a half hours early to wait in line. Spent the whole time in the waiting line next to some perverts bordering child molesters. What late 3o and 40 year old men wait in line to see New Moon? Someone should have called the cops. Back to the movie. I though this was a better adaptation to the book than Twilight the movie was to the book. It had the same sequential order and they didn't make up a bunch of stuff. You can tell the difference between male and female directors towards the approach of the portraying the book on the screen. The acting was slightly better. I'm not sure how the girl who plays Jessica, got a role as supporting actress to a Clooney movie. Maybe she can act, it's just the character that makes her act badly. I always liked the second book, so naturally, I'm suprised that I liked this one. I didn't have much to pick on. There should have been more of the Wolf pack scenes, but you can only put so much into a movie. Although, the Volturi were super lame and cheesy in the movie. I think they should have spent more time perfecting the scene. And I also didn't like the ending. They should have kept the bedroom scene. Other than that, it was better than the first movie, but Pattinson's and Stewart's chemistry fizzled instead of sizzled for me. What happened?

2012

I really liked this movie. I think I've talked about it to everyone already. The special effects were awesome. Looking back on it, it was a tad bit "Hollywood". For example the limo managing to escape the collapsing city of LA in the nick of time. Who cares? It was supposed to be a thrill ride. I thought the vehicles in the end were strange. I wasn't expecting the movie to go there. I had developed a different opinion of based on what the preview showed. Harrelson was a big of a nut, but I can think if a certain someone with a radio talkshow going on about conspiracy theories - Alex Jones. Loved Cusack in this. I thought the children were oddly small, especially the son. I thought the movie was terrifying. The science part was plausible and realistic. After all those Geology courses, the movie was bang on. It was way better than I expected. If you like end of the world movies, then this is one you don't want to miss.

All About Steve

This was a quirky movie. Sandra Bullock plays an interesting character full if facts and correcting people. Cooper plays a guy who gets freaked out by the appearance of Bullock and some miscommunication ensues a game of cat and mouse and strange events. This movie took a turn. The beginning was all about Bullock and then it becomes about a bunch of characters. The relationship between Cooper, Hayden and that awesome Korean comedian carry the movie forward, making this what seems like a chick flick, becomes a bit if a guy movie. I don't think I've seen a movie that has such a shift, but maybe something will come to mind. I think thus movie is worth taking a chance on. I didn't think I would like it, but I wanted to see it anyway and I was charmed by the story and the characters.

Paranormal Activity

This extremely small budget film was pretty good. Although I've heard mixed reviews from other people who have seen it. Definitely not terrifying, but it did have me in suspence. I liked the story and how it all played out and the build-up between the boyfriend and girlfriend. The point was that a movie doesn't need a huge budget to tell a story as long as it is done well. There were a few scenes I loved. Why the girlfriend and her friend hung out and made beaded necklaces was weird, the rest of it was pretty normal. I like the ending where there was no credits. The lights came on and that was it. It's probably one of the more original movies I've seen in awhile so I don't want to hate on it. This movie probably makes more as something you watch at home which will probably up the scary factor.

Whatever Works

So this Woody Allen I was a bit skeptic about. I heard this was a script he wrote in the 70's, so I thought it would be similar to that style, but it was definitely modern. I love Larry David, but it was basically David playing Woody Allen. I loved the "inch worms" and the writing. Rachel Evan Woods was hilarious. Her Southern attire though was awful. They could have made her look less of a 15 year old. Woods' mother in the movie was a riot. She's been in a few Allen movies. I know that in David's monologue he said it wasn't a feel good movie, but it totally was. The movie actually had a real ending unlike VCB. Typical Allen to incorporate irony into the story, which never fails to disappoint me. This movie was pleasant and witty. If you're a Allen fan, you will like this one.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

I find the title a bit misleading. I had expected more goat staring. The preview basically shows all the funny parts of the movie. This movie was more serious than funny. Im suprised that Mr. Wine of Saskatoon gave this a 3 out of 4 stars. I think his brain works differently than everyone else's. It was supposed to be witty, but it lacked the amount of wit a story like this could potentially have. I was thinking it would be like a Coen film, but it wasn't close. I liked it, I just don't like it enough to recommend or boast about how fantastic it was. The story sort of started falling after Bob and Lyn get kidnapped. I was expecting a clear head in this amongst all the whacked out characters, but it just didn't turn out like that. It needed an outside moment where someone said, "what the f*** just happened?" "Let's never mention that any of this actually happened". After I boasted about how great Spacey was in Shrink, he goes and plays a character like Larry and ruins himself all over again. I suddenly remembered him in The Return of Superman and his stupid character in that one. Why does he always have to be a lame bad guy in every movie that he acts in that makes it to the theatres? I was so disappointed that he picked the role. I think I would have liked this better as a book and not as a movie. A strong point in the movie was the narration, which added to the story, which without it, the movie would have been worse. This movie was so not what I expected from the preview and all the critical hype that the movie was so good. It wasn't so good, but it wasn't bad either; It was quite mediocre.

The Taking of Pelham 123

One of the reasons I waited to see this was because the CBC reviewer talked about it so much, I was sure she ruined the movie by talking plot twists and a whole bunch of other things. I also thought it was going to suck, so I pretty much expected that I might not like it. It turned out that i did like it, and it was better than I had originally expected. Other than this being a remake and that this archetype of a story has been done too many times, Washington and Travolta had great chemistry together. Although, what's up with Travolta playing these over the top in your face guys lately? He's either a womanizer, a head case or someone unconventional and manly. I don't like John Turturro, he's constantly annoying me in everything he's in. I also didn't like that stupid girlfriend who wouldn't shut-up. Was she trying to kill her boyfriend and everyone else? If I had to rate this, it would be somewhere around a 6.5 out of 10.

Trick 'r Treat

So I watched this on Halloween night and I thought it was a great choice. Every year I watch at least one scary movie and hand out candy. It was 4 stories blended together, all within the same night and within the same town. I thought the stories were unique. I saw new interpretations of classic supernatural and there was the odd humour in it. My favourite story was the one with the character on the poster cover. This movie must be old because Anna Paquin had brown hair and bushy eyebrows -they weren't really bushy, just bushy in comparison to Sookie Stackhouse's eyebrows. It's a possibility that this movie got released because of True Blood. It had a lot of familiar faces like Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb and that chunkie blonde kid from Badder Santa. This was a fun movie and really enjoyed watching it.

The Hangover

I liked this movie, but it wasn't as hilarious as everyone else said it was. For one, I think too many people hyped it up for me, so I had higher expectations. Secondly, the theatre was empty, and the other 4 people who were watching the movie weren't laughing out loud, which made the funniness for me drop, because I felt like a weirdo being the only person all the time making laughing noises. Bradley Cooper was a bit of a douche in this. Reminds me of his character in The Wedding Crashers. Like all comedies, I have been measuring them up to my Superbad standards, and this one ranks a 6 out of 10 for comedic writing and acting. It was another male version of a romantic wedding comedy, except that I Love You Man was so much better. Basically the movie is about trying to find out what they did the night before in order to find their friend Doug who is supposed to be getting married the next day. I think it would have been better if we actually saw the shit they did instead of missing the funny stuff only to see "hangover" funny. Don't get me wrong, it was funny, but it wasn't hysterical and I most likely wonm't be bringing this movie up into any conversation unless someone else is talking about it.

Where The Wild Things Are

The first thing I will say is that this movie is not for young children. The movie was fierce, aggressive, tense and extremely melancholy. The characters were beautiful and made by the Jim Henson team who did an incredible job. I found the character Carol to be scary. I thought the movie was scary. Max Records who played Max did a great job. The music was performed by Karen O. The music added an Indie feel to the movie. For such a plain setting, it created a specific mood that was both earthy ANC strange. I'm not sure if the Children's book was supposed to be symbolic or deep or if the writing of the screenplay changed the mood but the story is about a little boy struggling with different facets of his personality and tries to bring them all together to coincide the way most people deal with theirselves. I've never seen anything like this and I don't think I ever will again.

One Week

This movie was quintessentially Canadian through-in-through. Obviously the scenery, the tiny details like Tim Horton's "Roll up the rim to win" cups, the humour and also the parallels between his changing situation, and the environmental changes. I loved this movie. I wish this movie was marketable in the states, bug there is a small percentage of Americans who would be drawn to qstch it. A lot of the movie is Joshua Jackson standing in front of the enormity of nature and our insignificance to the grandeur of the whole scheme. There is a theme of thf change of perspective once we know we are holding onto the find strings of life and our fragility against the odds and what gives our life meaning. It was a beautiful movie and Jackson was perfect for the role. I appreciate that he did a Canadian movie for Canadians. This a movie that anyone can appreciate. Watch this movie!!!

Law Abiding Citizen

It seems that there were a lot of critics who didn't care for it. They had a good point that thf plot was unrealistic, bug like I have said before, anything is possible, so the scenario has a good probability of occurring in real life. It's basically about the bad winning over the good and the internal conflict of turning to the bad. It addresses the issues of justice and the political structure around the movie. A line from the movie that is so true is "it's not what you know, but what you can prove." Even in justice it's about winning an argument persuasively. Evidence speaks for itself. I really enjoyed the movie. I was surprised to see that Butler produced the movie, which is probably why he got the role. If someone else took the script, I don't think the producers would have thought "hey, let's get Gerard Butler to play this guy. He looks like he could do crazy like nobody else." Surprisingly, Butler is amazing at playing a cold calculating destroyed man who loses his mind. I would live to see him play these kind of roles more often. I may even think he could do horror. I think Butler could do anything and make it sexy. I think this movie should be given a chance. Fiction isn't supposed to depict reality exactly how it is, and the way the world and our political structures change in times like now, it doesn't seem too farfetched that someone brilliant will turn against all that we know and challenge it.

Land of the Lost

This has to be the first time in awhile that Will Ferrell wasn't outlandish or in your face. The movie was sillier than what the preview showed. I'm a fan of all three actors. I loved the amount if scientific detail that was in it. Sadly the movie was forgetable, and in a fed years I will forget that it's part of the Ferrell archives. Although the movie is forgetable, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think the critics were a bit unfair to Ferrell which probably killed their box office ratings. Ferrell should do another movie like Stranger Than Fiction. It had it's moments where I couldn't help myself but laugh out loud. Anyone who's a Ferrell fan may be disappointed, but it's worth a watch anyway.

Imagine That

Now I'm not sure if all the critics hated this movie or if it was just one of our local papers' reviwer didn't like it, but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone said it was. It was nice to see Murphy act more like a normal person and not some comedian being over the top. I haven't seen Being Dave or Norbit, but I’m sure this is one of his better movies other than Skrek of this decade. The basic plot of the story is a father who’s never had much of connection with his daughter and through his divorce he has to be a dad and juggle his work-life which is being challenged by the actor Thomas Haden Church. Murphy’s daughter has 4 imaginary friends which she accesses through her blanket and the 4 friends make tips or comments about certain companies which happen to be true, which lure Murphy to his daughter’s imaginary world. It’s classified as a family comedy and it was just that. I think the movie didn’t do so well in the box office because most family and kid’s movies have either CGI special effects, based on some beloved children’s book or is an animation. It would be the parent’s taking their children to see this, but Murphy’s lack of good movies lately probably warded off the kind of audience this movie may have generated. It’s a cute movie, with morals, comedy and plenty of imagination. I liked this movie and I would watch it again.

Shrink

So I love this movie. Kevin Spacey may be the main character, but he does damaged and neurotic quite well. I know we're all thinking of K-Pax and Beyond the Sea (which I haven't seen by the way, but did poorly) and that Spacey has lost his touch to his greater filsm like The Usual Suspects, but don't let his recent movies deter you. This movie is fantastic. I can see why it never made it to theatres, or at least any big theatres because the story just is marketable for such a large audience. Basically the story is about a grieving man whom is a therapist for celebrities and big name movie industry people and gets handed a case by his father of a teenage girl who is sent to therapy by her principal. Neither wants to be helped and are both dealing with their grief. The movie is well-written, the actors are great and once again I have fallen in love with Spacey's acting and I hope to see him in more great movies soon. It's never too late to save your acting carrer when you take great roles and movies like this one. I love this movie. It's one of the better movies I've seen all year.

The Brothers Bloom

This movie wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. Paris When it Sizzles -with Holden and Hepburn- comes to mind when Holden's character the screenplay writer lays out the story and mentions the first twist and then another twist and then yet another twist, so the audience is constantly fooled all the time. This movie was like that scheme, which I didn't care for. It was just all too much. Not to mention how much I didn't like Ruffalo's character, which made me not like him an as actor in this, and I happen to like Ruffalo. I liked Bang Bang. It's not that the movie was bad, I just didn't care for it. I think its a 'like it or not like it' kind of film and no one should take recommendations for this film, just watch it because you think you might like the story.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I'm going to be honest, this movie was a lot better than I thought it would be. I had low expectations, which may be why I liked it. I forgot the rest of the cast of this movie until the titles rolled. I was surprised that Reynolds and Will.I.am was in this. I wonder how much of this movie was true to the orginal story of Wolverine and how much they made up like the story that Wolverine takes as his name. I can't believe that Jackman is producing the second installment of this movie. He's done way better movies than this one, but Kate and Leopold was a failed attempt at a romantic comedy, that was original, but awful at the same time, coincidentally pairing Shreiber and Jackman. I felt the movie was long because they had to cram in the beginning of finding out what he was and so on and then the many wars that him and his brother fought in; leading up to his falling out with his brother and then the story actually begins. I'm not sure how they can fit in a second one, but its probably going to be the last one because I'm sure it leads directly up to the first X-Men movie. Gamble the escaped mutant was pretty awesome and the ultimate mutant was terrifying. I'm not sure why they had to make him look so much like a ugly freak considering... If I had to rate this out of 5 I would give it a 2.5. I think I'm just tired of the X-Men series already.

Management

So I've been secretly waiting to see this movie for awhile. I saw the preview somewhere and I was waiting for it to make its way to DVD. Management is about a man (Steve Zahn) who works at his parent's motel probably doing the same thing year in and year out until a woman (Jennifer Aniston) stays at the motel for business (corporate art) and Zahn puts the moves on her after hours to get somewhere with her. Zahn is thoroughly awkward, sweet and determined. It's a story about people changing their lives after being stuck in a rut and previously settling with that rut. This movie was hilarious and sometimes uncomfortable. It had decent writing and Steve Zahn changed my view of him. He can be a sexy leading man who can carry a story on his back. I enjoyed this movie a lot and I think its worth giving a chance because it will definitely charm you.

Surrogates

I like the majority of Bruce Willis films, so I don't think I'll be very objective about this one. I know this based on a graphic novel, but if this was a book, I'm sure it would cover the ethics of surrogates. The whole idea is for people to avoid death and sickness, but how healthy can you be reclining/lying down all day avoiding being outside and whatnot? I deleted what I originally said after this because I have an idea that I want to use and not have someone steal it. The story and the conflict of the movie made sense. For some reason there are a lot of movies about men who lose their children and have incorporated into the story ie. Gerard Butler and Jason Statham. I thought the effects of the surrogates looked really good. The movie addresses a unique notion of beauty and who the real person is behind the surrogate. It kind of looks at that, but minimally. This movie has great discussion potential. An entire lecture if not a couple on it. Anyone up for a discussion? It was an average movie, but I enjoyed it.

Lymelife

I think this is a great movie. The Culkin's always seem to pick indie movies with great writing and characters. Typical Baldwin playing the same character he always does. Emma Roberts was a super young femme fatale in this. I hope she makes it as an adult actor. Indie or indie-like movies always have a fascination with adolescent boy sexuality. This movie is not one to stray from that theme. This was humorous and awkward, just like how young boys are when it comes to sex and sex related activities. It was neurotic, pessimistic, sarcastic, charming and funny. I recommend this movie, because I really liked this one.

Easy Virtue

I don't have much to say about this one. I'm not even interested in mentioning basic plot. I rented this for my mother because she wanted to watch it. Not to mention the publicity this film got in various magazines. It was definitely charming and funny. The son was a bit of a spoiled wanker in my opinion. Biel's character is supposed to be an "older" woman, but I didn't see that. Maybe they should have used an older actress. Although Biel was pretty good in this. The magazines said this was her "break-out" role, but I don't think so. Maybe in a few more years. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the songs they used in the movie. I think they just should have used the instrumentals and not the singing. Because they were new recordings, they took away from the feeling of the movie. This wasn't a bad movie, but it's not for everyone.

Battle for Terra

So I thought this movie would be pretty good. It was very bland. What's with all the celebrity voices??? Is it to get people to watch it? I want to see a good story, and if that means spending more money on the visuals than the actors than so be it. Some actors are just not voice actors. Their ability to the convey emotions only through voice is lost because these people are more expressive physically. Although the facial animations were minimal so that's also possible why I saw lack of emotion. I disliked it more than I liked it. I also slept through the final battle and I didn't feel like going back to watch the climax either. Number one complaint, real things have texture. Everything looked smooth. Sorry, but unless it's man-made, it's not smooth. Secondly, according to physics, the "floaters" ability to hover makes absolutely no sense. There are limitations to imagination. Unless it's magic, there is no reason for why these things hover. The story had potential, it just didn't follow through.

Ponyo

I went to see this because I love Hayao Miyazaki's films. Although Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle and a couple others can be more for adults than children, Ponyo was definitely for a younger crowd. This movie was a Miyazaki retelling of Hans Christian's Little Mermaid. This movie was so adorable and filled with so much imagination. The style of this movie was visually different. The background cells looked like pencil crayon somewhat the style of a friend of mine and water colour for the animation. The orchestra added to the magic and excitement of the story. The way Ponyo always nods off is so life-like that it steals your heart. Miyazaki never fails to entertain and tell beautiful stories.

The Informers

I didn't recognize the movie because of the DVD cover. Had I of read the back I would have remembered that this was a movie I wanted to see. The only reason I put it in was because it had Sundance 2009 on the back. This is also Brad Renfro's last theatrical performance who's death was overshadowed by Heath Ledger's. This movie was deep, dark, and gritty. I want to say it was sexy, but all I saw was a theme of morality. There was some really good lines in the movie. Probaby one of the best ones was when Graham played by Jon Foster says something along the lines 'I want someone to tell me what is bad. I want someone to tell me what is good. How else would we know what is good.' That's not the exact quote, but I'm not going to rewatch the scene of the movie to quote it exactly. When I was getting the image from a site, the plot mentioned a vampire. There wasn't a vampire in the movie. I checked it out. The vampire parts hit the cutting room floor. I'm sure they took the vampire bit out because it wasn't a movie about vampires, it was exactly what the tagline of the movie was Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever. The last line of the film also delivered by Jon Foster makes sense is so many different ways. I think it would have been less subtle if they had kept the vampire murders in, but whatever. There are lots of parallels between plot and characters ie. Christie and her rapid sickness and the parallel to the use of light. This movie has made me very gloomy, but it was fantastic. Not a movie for everyone though. The best parts of the film were the scenes with the young actors. I could care less about Billy Bob, Basinger and Mickey Rourke. The young cast stole the show. This movie made me want to read Ellis' book right now since Ellis' characters left me wanting more.

Obsessed

I liked this movie. I think Ali Larter plays crazy well. I think they could have done more stalker craziness, but as far as the movie goes, it was enough. It's the modern version of Fatal Attraction, although not comparable since the plot is different and nobody could play crazy scorned lover, turned obsessed like Glenn Close can. For once I thought Beyonce was not that bad. Idris Elba is super sexy. When I was looking for the image Wicker Park came up because I guess it's also known as "Obsessed". Now that movie had crazy delusional woman. Of all the things I didn't like would have to be that there was a couple Beyonce songs. Super lame. Especially the Christmas one. I can't remember if that was playing at the Christmas party or while their family was having Christmas. This movie wasn't bad at all, not bad at all.

Fighting

I'm going to be quite blunt. This was an awful movie. My friend reviewed Terrence Howard as being annoying with his slow-mindedness. I agree Terrence Howard was annoying in this. I usually like him. I was surprised he picked this script. I pin-pointed his voice. He sounded just like some good for nothing soft-spoken slimey weasley hustler that was one step above being an alcoholic/drug addict on social assistance picking butts off the ground to smoke. Why is Channing Tatum always playing some dancer or some meat head macho person with no brains all the time? Can he really not act? This movie was terrible. Almost every character in this movie was a loser. People who are too lazy to contribute to society in a positive way and just further destroying the good of humanity. I had force myself to watch this all the way through. The only reason I didn't take stop the movie was because I had nothing else to watch. Thankfully I borrowed this and not spent money on it. It makes me think that the director who co-wrote it, must have lived in this kind of lifestyle, only to be stuck portraying life in the poor of New York City and unable to create anything else outside of their life experience. They were all losers. They weren't even good people. This contributed nothing to culture or the history of film. How did someone fall so far ended up even further by their way of redemption? Evan Hailey was just a pawn at getting back what he lost, but in the end he still lost, despite what some people may think was a happy ending.

The Final Destination

The writing of the script was really bad. Some of the casting too. I basically think they just wanted to make a lot of money by making a 3D movie to capture audiences in the first few weeks and that was it. I honestly think the producers just wanted a paycheck instead of actually trying to make a good movie. Which is really sad, because I happened to like the other Final Destination movies. Okay I lie, I liked the first one and the last one where the DVD was interactive on how the people died. This movie was weak. The director didn't even have the ability to be creative enough to use more 3D effects. More things should have been coming out of the screen e.g. My Bloody Valentine had eyeballs, picks and fire coming through the screen. Like Corliss from Time said, putting in more money to make a movie look really good, will bring in more audiences. Maybe you should see this on DVD. I don't know if it didn't occur to me before when I watched these, but I entirely disagree with predetermined death. Lame.

Sunshine Cleaning

This was less of a comedy than I thought it would be. It was actually quite melancholy. The characters were real. The whole giving the photos to the deceased woman's daughter after befriending her was slightly odd in the movie. Maybe I missed something. Maybe it was there so that Emily Blunt's character could release her pain of her mother's suicidal death when she was a young child. This was a really sad movie. I really liked it, it had its moments. The characters sometimes lacked honesty when there should have been the truth told. I really liked the guy with the missing arm. The last thing I would ever want to do is try to impress people from high school that I'm not a loser, but have made something of myself some 10 years later. They can suck it for all I care. What people think of you, especially the people who really talk shit about you behind your back are not worth the time. Maybe it's a small town thing. Who knows. I would prefer not running into people I graduated with. Amy Adams' is beginning to be typecasted for some doe-eyed thing that is naive to something or other. I would love to see her play something edgier or fierce. It's about time she does something new.

Earth

Although they use a lot of footage from the BBC series, it still had new narration and a certain storyline based on the theme of life and death or more specifically predator and prey. Since it is Disney, they took out all the eating and whatnot. The ochestra was heavenly. The cinematography was breath taking. They have things where you seen the seasons changing. There is this tree that they starting panning slowly that has the leaves changing on the tree. It was beautiful. To tell you the truth, I knew a lot of these things they already showed, but it doesn't stop me from watching these things over and over. I bet this was an awesome job collecting all this amazing footage. I love usiqng my knowledge of geology whenever I can. Earl Jones narrates the perfection of the tilt of the planet that creates the seasons and whatnot, but they never really brushed up on the perfection of the earth's homeostasis that makes life and eveything we know it today possible. It's beyond the tilt of the planet. It's our distance from the sun. The size of the sun, the size of our plannet. The fact that Jupiter being such a huge gas planet shields a lot of the meteors and comets that would hit Earth if were weren't being shielded at all. It's way more than just a tilt. The whole system is just so complex. Earth is this perfect mathematical equation of thousands of elements that make this earth what it is. No hour and a half movie could ever capture the essence of earth. I watched this on Blue Ray which is as close to seeing it in real life can be. I would rather much rather see it all in person than to have technology that makes me feel like I'm really there. Odd, this reminds me of a short story about a room and the African Sahara. I really enjoyed watching this documentary.

Gamer

I hear eveything thinks this movie is bad. It isn't bad per se, it is just that it is similar in basic plotting to Death Race, but at the same time entirely different. i don't think the main premise of the story is way off to the future of science. My mom is always saying we should get that Nextel card or something similar to that to get into the US. I'm totally opposed to it because they have your fingerprints in the American database. It makes me feel like a criminal. I'm going off on a tangent here, but here's these Americans who are terrified of government controlled health care, but they aren't worried about their fingerprints being collected. If you commit a crime, well if we have you in our database, you're as good as caught. That's terrifying that we are "potential" crime committers. This film is entirely plausible or happening in the future. It's more than true that the minute someone tells you not to think something or puts an idea in your head, it is almost impossible to not think about what you shouldn't. It's quite clever. It reminds me of a professor who told me not to look at my feet, which I didn't, but I couldn't help but avert my eyes towards to floor anyways. The movie was slightly sexist. Women are always skantily clad in games. I liked the movie. It had deep philosophical questions and probing. Funny, how the future and technology always leads to morality and ethics. What doesn't?

The Life Before Her Eyes

Reviewing this movie would most likely spoil it. Had it not have been for the title of the movie, I may have still been confused, which makes me seem dumb. I liked this movie, it was strange. As much as I like Uma Thurman, I couldn't stand her in this. Evan Rachel Wood was really good in this, since she hasn't been in awhile. This movie had a poor choice of casting for a couple of the characters and it had the potential. It was the "future" that wasn't so good. Imagine a strong willed character suddenly becoming soft and nothing of their old self. If I say anything further, I'm just going to spoil the movie. A good movie has nothing to ruin.

Inglourious Basterds

This was brilliant. It is a masterpiece. If anyone knows me, I complain every year about the amount of WWII holocaust movies, but this one was different, edgy and hilarious which is why I loved it so much. Only Tarantino would present a movie like this. I loved that it had chapters and I loved all of the characters. This was just brilliant writing. Now for my criticism... the music. Of everything Tarantino he really botched this part up, which is always something he is so good at doing. Shame on him for using a piece he used in Kill Bill. In fact, he used the same style of spaghetti Western and Zamphir, which was awesome and fresh and new in Kill Bill, but was not quite right for Basterds. I think he should have used music or style from this time or used classical scores. The movie would have been at perfection if he would have fixed the music. BUT in the first chapter in the Frenchman's home, the end of the scene with the build-up of tension, the music was breathtaking. Other than that, the music fell short everywhere else. Christoph Waltz is brilliant. He is my new favourite actor. This movie is his American debut and from now on I think he should be doing American films. I don't want to say that this is Tarantino's best film, since the Kill Bill's are masterpieces, but he has refined his dialogue so that his monologues don't babble on like they sometimes do. For this he has refined his writing craft. I best describe it as Woody Allen's new work (VCB). I love this movie, which makes me want to rewatch the Kill Bill's. On the other hand, it may be awhile before anything this good comes out of Tarantino again ie. Death Proof may be repeated again. This is a must see, and although it's genre is a War drama, I see it more like a comedy meets WWII but with taste Quentin Tarantino style.

Post Grad

I get the feeling that the screenplay was written before the recession since typically these projects take a few years to finish. In lieu of that, I think they should have made some tweaks to it like how its really hard as a post graduate to find a job in the field we want because of the recession and the lack of jobs. Enough of my complaining... well not quite. The movie was cheesy thanks to Michael Keaton who has yet to play a Dad that is not quirky. What happened to Keaton? He used to be Batman and Batman is sexy as hell. It makes sense that Bledel's character can't get a job that she wants, but all her friends... give me a break. As if every post graduate is trying to get a full-time job a few days after graduation and spending their whole life in school... yeah right. Only people who are either boring or going to have a quarter-life crisis in a few years. I liked it, it just needed some changes and it would have been better. Bledel's character is like any other self-obsessed person who doesn't want what she has and still seems to get what she wants anyways... I know that happens to some people, but they should really show the reality of things and that life just doesn't work like that. Its overly optimistic which is why it is cheesy. On a good note, Jane Lynch is awesome and she also happened to be in Julie and Julia.

The Last House on the Left

They never actually say that their house is the last one on the left, which I think they should of either incorporated it into the dialogue or changed the title. I was thinking this movie happened in the suburbs, not some lake town and some isolated lake house. The movie was graphic, and the acting was good. The escaped convict's girlfriend was an irritating actress... they should have cast someone else. For a horror movie, they still seem to incorporate boobies, which quite frankly was unnecessary to the story or the direction of the plot. I thought it took away because it was just a distraction... not to mention the last image they show of the girlfriend at the end and its change of focus. What you think are good natured protagonists being antagonized by these foul bandits is not the case. And in that respect I actually didn't like the movie because of the reaction of the parents of Mary. I especially did not like the last scene.

Julie and Julia

This was a fantastic movie. I tried explaining it to someone and they rolled their eyes. One of the things I liked was that the character Julie was having lunch with her friends who were all rich and successful and here is Julie who hadn't completed her book and was supposed to be the most successful out of the 4 women and she realizes she needs something that she can finish, so she starts her cooking blog that her husband suggests and she cooks all the recipes from Child's book in 365 days. Some of the recipes are delightfully funny like the lobsters and so on. And then the other half of the story is about how Julia Child got into cooking and her frustrations with her and her friend's massive cookbook. The two stories parallel each other, but are also not the same. I loved the movie, it was charming, funny and heartwarming. I wouldn't necessarily say its a chick flick because of saw plenty of older gentlemen watching the movie too. If anything, it has a more aged audience because of Julia Child.

Perfect Getaway

Strangely, I have the feeling that this movie only made it to theatres in the US and not in Canada because its not playing in the city and its only been out for 4 weeks. I liked this movie. Its not the best thriller I've seen, the characters themselves are slightly odd, especially Olyphant's character. Because I was expecting some major plot twist I missed the obvious which my sister was surprised I hadn't known, which is why she never leaned in to tell me because she thought I had figured it out. Jovovich's American accent was quite good. And for that, she shouldn't always be typecast. There was one particular sequence where they have 3 shots side by side of 3 people running which was super awesome, it just didn't belong in the film. I hope I see the exact same shot being used in another movie where it belongs.

Orphan

I totally hate this creepy poster. What's really annoying about movie goers is when they've already seen the movie and start ruining it before it starts and secondly, the people they're with ask questions. It's like "shut-up already!" I don't want to know what happens, thank-you very much. It's a scary movie and it's supposed to be a surprise. I have to say this movie left me feeling disturbed and unsettled, but no nightmares. Maybe the shading of the poster kinds of ruins it. Like any scary movie, you really can't say much because then you'll ruin it for someone else... like that horrible movie reviewer on CBC. Some how she always manages to ruin the plot twist, no matter how subtle she is. This movie is super creepy, and has elements or maybe the story itself is like a classic horror movie done in the 21st century and done well. I think I might even call it a bit of slasher, but it is also like a psychological-thriller and so it sits between the two genres very nicely. I don't know where they found the girl who plays Esther, but she's fantastic. Max the little girl in this is also has to be the cutest little girl. And as usual, Sarsgaard is amazing. Why the house in a horror movie is always remote is slightly annoying, but it's easy to overlook that cliche. This is a good movie.

Fast & Furious

The title of this throws me because not only is it the 4th one in the series, but its technically the 3rd and its basically the same title as the first but without the "the"s in it. The fact that I'm actually going on about the title is awful. Considering the movie was only about an hour and 40 minutes, it felt like it was a really long movie. To be quite frank, it was awfully boring. I do have to admit that it is better than the 2nd one. I couldn't help notice how much reggaeton they used in the movie. Paul Walker isn't that bad of an actor, he just needs another new break. He's hot enough to do a romantic comedy, so maybe he should do one. Even Gerard Butler who does a lot of action movies, still does a girl's movie and he's even hotter for it because he can do it all. Sadly, I think the whole Fast and Furious series has really ruined most of their careers, even though the first one was a major hit. Who knows. It is slightly unusual that none of these actors has managed to become super stars. This movie was really boring. They've taken car racing to a whole new level by having a drug lord and FBI involved. A bit too far fetched this movie is.

Away We Go

This is a brilliant film. I wish they would have advertised it a bit more because I think more people should see it. The movie is hilarious, but its also serious. I felt like I was seriously mental because I was laughing all the time and the other people in the theatre rarely laughed. It is classified as a comedy. Krasinski is great as usual, but I'm slightly biased in always favouring him, but he did do this absolutely terrible straight to DVD movie. I know I have seen Maya Rudolph play some very small roles in movies before, but I always see her as playing Diana Ross and that Pants sketch with Jimmy Fallon on SNL. She definitely can act. This movie moved me and left me in a strange type of melancholy and awe for a least few hours which is strange. YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE. It's made it on my list of all-time favourite movies.