Fifty Dead Men Walking

So I think this movie title is quite clever. I'm really liking Jim Sturgess as an actor. I love Ben Kingsley, but this role could have been played by anyone else. The only difficulty I had with this movie was the accents. I'm usually pretty good at hearing what people say, but I missed the whole beginning of this and what was said because of the accent barrier. They were speaking English, right? I really liked this based on true events story. It was nice new take on Ireland, the 80's and the IRA. This is a heroic story where you see a man struggle with everyday life and his double life and trying to come to terms with it all and whether what he's doing is worth the fight. This is great movie and I'm surprised by the amount of people who haven't seen this. I don't really think they advertised/marketed this one enough. I do know that it was in theatres. If you like watching movies with a meaningful story, then this might be something that would interest you.

Pandorum

I'm not sure what I thought this movie was about, but it certainly wasn't it. I was thinking it would be like a bunch of people going into space to save some people from a ship that went all wrong. No. I mean yes it was about something going wrong on a ship, but its only the people who are on the ship that need to work together in order to get off the damn thing. I felt like this movie was two movies. Strange. Not like Australia. It had two stories and I think I like the story it ended on. In fact, that story would have been better. Is it just me or is Dennis Quaid not playing the lead in his past few movies? I can't diss on him because he did Funny People and that movie was great. I don't know what else to say other than this movie is not what I expected. I'm certainly disappointed, but not miffed either. I don't feel like I wasted 100 minutes of my life watching this. The trailer was definitely misleading and that in and of itself is annoying. No wonder no one talked about this movie when it came out into theatres. Its an okay movie and that's all I have to say.

The Book of Eli

It's quite possible that my post might spoil your experience of the movie, so don't read this if you like not knowing what a movie is about. One of my favourite movie genres is the end of humanity and the world that we know. Sick, I know, but watching the brink of humanity succomb to survival as opposed to civility, is by far my favourite thing to watch. I think it is because there is a fine line between rationality and irrationality- Greek terms for separating man from everything else. We are some much closer to irrationality than we like to think. Its only a matter of time when some world-wide disaster makes us cross that line. I personally, would rather commit suicide than live in a world like this one. The fact that what they consider "old" is possibly 50-60 years of age. It's sad that literacy gets lost in the new generations. I'm skirting these things without hinting to anything, which is more difficult than I thought. The premise of the movie is that there is a skilled rogue man who is on a mission to deliver a very sought after book. I still don't think I like Kuniz all that much. Will I ever like her? I hope she never becomes a leading actress, because it is certain that I will never watch those movies. Denzel was great in this. The pace of the movie was slow and meticulous, just like Denzel's character. I like how what happened to Earth is revealed to us not as a narration, but how the story unfolds and how they talk about the past that reveals the present situation. The more I reflect on the movie, the more I realize how much I enjoyed it. Although, I don't think this movie is for everyone, since there are many people who don't like to watch movies where they have to look under the surface to see the story unfold in ways that the visuals could never do.

The Lovely Bones

This is a beatiful movie. Its painfully sad and hopeful at the same time. Saoirse Ronan was great in this role. She has to be one of my favourite young actress. Stanley Tucci was brilliant in this. I did find his blue contacts very creepy in this. As great as he was playing George Harvey, I don't want to see him play roles like these all that often. I want him to play Mr. Child more often. The visuals of this movie were beautiful. It's really sad to see a girl who was about to have some of her first experiences in life and losing them all to quickly. The fact that she lingered on those feelings is what made her so endearing and believable. I can imagine that the book is even better than this movie. You would never believe that Jackson turned New Zealand into Portland. I think this movie should be experienced as opposed to talked about. To brush up on the other characters, Weisz was forgettable. Was it the writing or the acting? Wahlberg was great in this. The scenes where they blend the scale-model boats was beautiful. Sometimes movies translate the visuals so much better than a book could ever do. I think that this movie added that to the book. This was a great film and I highyly recommend it.

The Invention of Lying

For something that Ricky Gervais wrote, this was bad. He's such a great writer, I can't believed this failed. Its quite possible that this is hsi first movie he wrote and that he was a collaboration with someone else. It does deserve some praise. It was orginal until it got to the pizza box tablets. Although the questions people asked in that scene were comical. I really liked the beginning of this movie. It has a 50's/60's comedy element that we don't see that often anymore, unless it's a remake or something that is dated in that time. In that respect it was refreshing. I love how people can't lie, so they say exactly what's on their minds. In itself, those things are funny. I also liked that Mark Bellison creates the most stupidest fiction. The worst writer writes the dumbest fiction pieces and everyone loves them kills me. You think someone with exceptional writing and flair for language would have invented lying. What a powerful thing to be the only person able to lie. Total domination. For Bellison's case, he has some moral character and uses his ability to become rich and famous. Would we all be that superficial if we had a gift that no one else possessed in the world? The idea that fiction doesn't exist is entirely interesting and thought provoking. It's what made this film so smart for me. Garner was hilarious in this. I can't imagine that we would only pick people to fall in love with based on the genetics for future offspring. That seems a bit far-fetched, even for me. People with that mentality shouldn't breed because they will just create more stupid superficial morons. If you're a Gervais fan, you should watch this, but I warn you, it's just not very good.

The Stepfather

To jump right into it, this is the first time I've seen Penn Badgley play a different character that isn't like Dan Humphrey- Gossip Girl. I liked that he wasn't sarcastic, cynical and down right annoying sometimes. I really don't want to talk about this one. I liked it a lot. I thought the ending was blah. I thought some things were unneccesay. What's her name, that blonde girl that's appeared in The Informers and Pineapple Express and something else has yet to act outside of herself. I'm sure she's playing herself, but she does have great hair. I'm surprised by the casting for the mother. The actress seems like she has a strong sense of herself, so it comes out in her character, but her character is supposed to be naive and weak. So the translation was odd. I'm also surprised that they decided to have the mother's sister be a lesbian and a lipstick lesbian at that. I thought that was odd too. Don't get me wrong, of course there can be lesbian aunts in movies, but I felt the script was trying to be ultra-trendy. Anyways, this one was okay. I might actually watch this one again. When though, I don't know. It was good for what it was.

The Road

Of all the people I discussed this movie with, all of them liked it- except Jack who ranted about how much he wanted to know about why the world ended up the way it did (which is actually irrelevant to the story), but me. I also know a couple people who say this is the all-time favourite book on this planet. I think this movie should have stayed a book. In fact, I bet the book is really incredible. I think that whoever decided to produce this, was hoping it would have No Country For Old Men success. I felt like this movie had no purpose. The ending itself did not fill me with hope like the story should have. Someone said if we did lose electricity and whatnot that we would have to go back to the fat of the land, but in this story its virtually impossible to start a life like of a more basic time since there is no life on Earth. I think it's related to Global warming and a rip in out atmosphere that everything burned up. This story has cannibalism, loss of humanity and the burning desire to find someplace better. I do find it sad that most of the people who survive are despicable specimens of the human race. I would hope that it would be better people carrying on what's left of humanity until it can flourish once again. To conclude, Mortensen was fantastic in this. Roles like these are made for him. I can't imagine who else they could have chosen for a part like this one. He plays stripped of human dignity like no one else. I hope he gets recognized for it in the future.

Up in the Air

I remembering reading an article about Clooney playing our favourite facets of him in one person. In a way, I see how that comment is true. But in another way, I thought Clooney was playing the character the way he was supposed to, which happens to be all the Clooney's we like. I do have to say, this movie is a lot sadder than I had expected. It wasn't that I was looking for a specific ending, but this one was disappointing for me. It makes me feel like the rest of my life is going to turn out just as bleek, when I'm looking for a change or are ready for it and have open arms for it, and then it never happening. Anna Kendrick was great in this. She was perfect for the role. It was strange to see her go from a minimal role like her in Twilight and then see her as a co-star to such an A-list actor. I thought the casting of this movie was perfect. The success of a movie also depends on the chemistry and interaction between the characters and the actors who play the characters. Jason Reitman did great directing. He looked slightly miffed that he didn't win more awards at the Globes last Sunday after he won for best screenplay. I really wanted to tell him that his movie was good, but there were better movies than his and he should not think that his movie will get any Oscar noms, because well, I don't think it should get any Oscar noms. Its a story about a man who thinks human contact is vital, yet avoids it in his personal life. A very strange combination in a person who makes a living selling his philosophy on these things.

Leap Year

This movie plays like all romantic comedies do. For me, the genre never gets old. The twist, Adams' character is waiting for her boyfriend to propose, but he doesn't. An age old Irish tradition is for a womann to propose to a man on leap day. Adams' character flies to Ireland, only to be washed out and trying to find someone who will take her to Dublin in order to propose on leap day. Disasters ensue as her and Goode's character clash and heat up between the two. For one, I liked that the femme had a different career than do most of the women in this type of genre. I also liked the whole red-haired American taking Ireland by storm. It was a cute movie, entirely predictable blah blah blah. Either way, looking for a good chick flick, this is it.

Daybreakers

This movie had some winning qualities and a new spin on vampires, but it just didn't do it for me. For one, my biggest gripe was that the vampires weren't sexy. They were vile and completely lost their dangerous exotic factor. I liked the Subsiders- the depraved vampires of human blood whom became bats of some sort. The movie took a turn for the worse when Willem Dafoe had the cheesy accent and called himself 'Elvis' with his terrible references to songs. What killed it for me was the non-sensical blood bath at the end. Vampires ripping heads and limbs off was unnecessary and I felt that the Spiereg brother's were adding something they wanted to see that just didn't belong. The acting was fine. I thought Ethan Hawke wasn't overly slimy in this. Shocker. This is a rental movie. I would recommend this to watch on DVD. This wasn't worth the trip on opening night to see. The trailers made it look better than it was. It had potential, it just didn't quite deliver.

District 9

I didn't know this was a documentary style film. The amount of people I knew who watched this, I was surprised no one said anything. To be honest, this movie wouldn't have been as good as it was if hadn't been a documentary type. Although, once we got into the story, it lost its documentary feel, which should have been present throughout the whole film. Its not what I was expecting. I thought the refugee camps were upsetting. It was definitely realistic. As much as I liked the story, I don't think I liked it. There wasn't much going on without the refugee camps. I think I liked it as much as I did was because I had no idea what it was about other than aliens stuck on Earth. It was a refreshing take on extra-terrestrials, so its winning in the original and creative department. This movie is a great discussion piece with the parallel with the apartheid's and the "Prawns". This was interesting movie and even after watching this 3 weeks ago, I'm still unsure about it.

Jennifer's Body

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I actually liked this movie. I do agree with my friend that Cody used to much "hip" slang that I'm sure no one uses. Looking back at Juno, the characters did the same thing. Probably the most exciting thing about this movie was Adam Brody in eyeliner. Excuse me sir, but damn. Please where eyeliner all the time. Chip looked like an enfant, but he's actually in his early twenties. Megan Fox was okay. I don't who else could have even played Jennifer other than Fox. Weird. The whole psychiatric hospital thing, especially the ending was lame. Seyfreid is so pretty, they really gave her the worst wardrobe and hideous pink 80's dress and hair. I remember the paparrazzi photos of Megan Fox wearing nude skivvies in order to appear naked. Although they never said they were filming this for this movie. I can't hate on this one. I would like to recommend it even though I know it wasn't great.

9

This nine movie I'm not so enthusiastic about. It was rife with holes. So many story holes that I'm still stuck on them. Things like soul's having knowledge. Sorry, but no. You don't suddenly come alive, and know what everything is. There was also the size perspective. It felt like the world only existed in one city and only one city. The story didn't stretch to the destruction of all human life on Earth. Just that one small location. Looking beyond the huge techical flaws, it wasn't too bad. It was an original story, so I have to give credit there. I'm certain there are more people who loved it than hated it. I don't know if I could sit through this movie a second time.

Nine

This movie was exquisite. Daniel Day Lewis' Italian accent was awesome. His Italian singing accent was also awesome. His acting was awesome. Cruz, Kidman, Hudson, Cottilard and Dame Judy Dench were fabulous in this. I loved the singing and dancing. The switch between imagination and real life were beautiful. I wish Fergie wasn't in this, but her song and the choreography was fantastic. The hair, costumes and make-up were excellent. I think I could continue gushing, but I won't. I loved loved loved this movie, but I sadly can say that this movie is for everyone. This is a small audience movie because it's a musical and cabaret, but it's delightful.

500 Days of Summer

The structure of this films lays heavily on flashbacks, so if you hate them, don't bother watching the movie. It was a good film. I think what stops me from loving it was that there wasn't enough story before it started jumping to day 200. It disrupted the flow. Not to mention it was cliche. Even the irony was cliche. Although I loved the one scene where the lead is dancing in the park. It played out like some of things I think of. It made me feel somewhat sane. Summer could have been played by someone else other than Zooey, which means the movie wasn't cast right. I wonder if Zooey does have a heart shaped mole. I liked this movie and I would watch it again.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

So I have mixed feelings on this film. The premise of the story was good, but albeit, it was predictable. I think Jesse Metcalfe is just too pretty for an edgy role. I think it might actually be crippling his career. Although he did start on TV, so that may also account for his career too. Michael Douglas has a smaller role in this. Amber Tamblyn is pretty good in this. For a political thriller, it's a bit dull. I enjoyed the movie, but I'm not going to recommend it.