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.