Monday, October 5, 2009
Zombieland (2009)
To start out with i have to say going in to this movie i really did not expect it to be good at all, I watched the previews and i thought wow another stupid movie that all the good parts are in the previews. I was so shocked to find out the funniest parts, which i will not ruin in this review were no where to be found in the previews. So few movies leave the good stuff out of previews now that by the time we get to see the movie we know its coming, and i think in a way it ruins the fun. I think that if you want to watch a movie and laugh no matter who you are you will find funny moments in this movie. While i would not suggest this to small children my point is this movie was really funny. I started laughing before the opening credits were finished and did not stop laughing yet. Even when i sit here at home i am still laughing from that movie it is just that funny. The movie starts out with one kid trying to travel back to columbus ohio where his family lives, however the only catch is he does not know if his family has been attacked and transformed like most of this world has in to flesh hungry zombies, or if they are still alive. Through his journey he meets Tallahassee played by Woody Harrelson who is this violent raging sometimes sensitive redneck who is full of these one liners that will make you laugh and laugh some more. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) also runs in to two sisters witchita played by the oh so beautiful emma stone and her little sister little rock played by little miss sunshines abigail breslin. As the movie progresses the chemistry between jesse and emma is awkward and heartwarming. The movie all in all begins with a bang and keeps going all the way through to the end. If you get the chance to see this movie i would most certainly suggest it because of how amazing it is. `10 out of10 stars in my book'
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Ugly Truth
Abby (Katherine Heigl) is an intelligent producer of a local morning show in Sacramento, California. She lives with her cat in a beautiful, lushly-gardened apartment complex but, the lovely lady longs to meet Mr. Right. One day, bad news arrives, twofold. One, since the show's ratings have slipped, the owners of the station have decided to go in a new direction. And, two, that direction would be south, Abby believes, for they have hired a brash, I-don't-mince-words talk show host, Mike (Gerard Butler) for a reprise of his late-night call-in program, The Ugly Truth. Mike will do small segments of advice, where he will counsel women on what a man "really wants". Since Abby has a past with this gentleman (she had recently called the late night show to tell Mike to take a hike) the young producer is mighty peeved that he has been hired for "her" program. Instant dislike reigns supreme. However, Mike does seem to know about affairs of the heart, even in his twisted fashion, and starts to give advice to Abby, on how to "catch" the very handsome young doctor, Colin (Eric Winter) who has just moved into her complex. two doors down. But, since this requires Abby and Mike to actually converse and confide in one another, could it be that Cupid's arrows could go astray? This is a very raucous and funny romcom but. it is definitely not in the Doris Day tradition. Therefore, if you are easily offended or prefer "sweet" tales of love, with just a touch of spice, this one may not be for you. That said, the cast is really delightful, for Heigl and Butler make a most attractive. sparring duo and Winter turns heads with his looks and smiles. The supporting cast, with Cheryl Hines and the rest, is quite nice, too. Also, the Sacramento setting is lovely while the costumes are terrific and the production values high. As for the direction, it is full of energy and mischief, as befits a script that is clever but rather risqué. All in all, if you love romcoms or any of the stars, you will probably embrace this one with gusto. For the truth is, it is very romantic at its core, and that's the best ingredient a comedic love tale can possess.
Orphan
Orphan REALLY surprised me. I expected some stupid pg-13 movie that somehow got an R rating. That was not the case. Let me tell you, Orphan is very disturbing at parts, and pretty gruesome. The movie overall is excellent, has some great acting, an amazing script, and excellent execution. The movie really has a lot of suspense and the twist is pulled off very well and packs a big punch to the viewer.
The best thing the film has is the script. What Esther does to the family is brilliant. The movie also has several sub-plots that work very well in the movie and add some complexity to the whole thing. The sub-plots never feel like too much, because they are very subtly put in there.
Overall, if you are tired of bad horror films, and want to see a very intelligent and well made film, i would suggest this. Or if you just want to see a great movie see this! I was very surprised at how excellent this movie turned out, and everyone else will be too! Seriously, if you want great, check it out! 9.5/10
The best thing the film has is the script. What Esther does to the family is brilliant. The movie also has several sub-plots that work very well in the movie and add some complexity to the whole thing. The sub-plots never feel like too much, because they are very subtly put in there.
Overall, if you are tired of bad horror films, and want to see a very intelligent and well made film, i would suggest this. Or if you just want to see a great movie see this! I was very surprised at how excellent this movie turned out, and everyone else will be too! Seriously, if you want great, check it out! 9.5/10
I Love you, Beth Cooper.
"Recycle" is generally a good word, one with positive and favorable connotations. But not in the world of movies. I Love You, Beth Cooper is one of those films that horrendously overuses the ideas (and not even the better ones) of previous entries in the teen comedy genre, resulting in an exercise in repetition and failed mimicry. Awkwardly personal advice from a father figure, aggressive small animals, nude scenes without any real nudity, and the all-too-familiar plot line of the bashful introvert chasing after the most popular girl in school are just a few of the rehashed concepts found throughout the picture. There are really only two reasons the film gets a score of two - and both belong to Hayden Panattierre.
During the graduation ceremony at Buffalo Glenn High School, bumbling, socially-challenged valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) professes his love for popular head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panattiere), as well as insulting his fellow classmates and embarrassing his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter). While the ill-conceived words toward his peers subsequently cause trouble, his honest confession appears to strike a chord with the idolized teen beauty. Much to Denis' surprise, Beth shows up at his house and a wild night of raucous adventure ensues - one filled with incessant partying, reckless driving, and Beth's maniacally jealous military boyfriend.
It's mildly amusing when the film starts with a rousing rendition of a song entitled "Forget Me" at a high school graduation. Following is a food-for-thought speech comprised of awkward prattling that struggles painfully for even the faintest hope of a smirk. But it doesn't get as much as a smile. As each second ticks away, the jokes get more stale, the slapstick more pathetic, and the plot more unbelievable. It's not that the story is hard to imagine - but it is difficult to understand why the cast and crew of I Love You, Beth Cooper ever thought this unimaginably pointless, hopelessly generic mess could pass as entertainment.
It's very tame, excruciatingly PG-13 and terribly immature - which means teens won't see it and neither will adults. Denis discusses with his father that the teenage coming-of-age subject is not a new idea; if only director Chris Columbus had taken that advice and stayed away from Larry Doyle's vastly unoriginal novel. The presentation is bland, the dialogue is weak and not a single memorable or creative concept is introduced during the entire film. It's as amateurish as the socially inept geeks lumpishly trying to court prom queens. Quite obviously an excuse to put Hayden Panettiere in a movie, the sheer lack of humor is the biggest disappointment, while the constant references to other films by Rich is an embarrassment to decent movies everywhere. Even the most pitiful have a worthwhile minute, but aside from being the first film in which Hayden bares a partial breast, I Love You Beth Cooper has not a single satisfying scene. When the film culminates in an all-guy wet towel fight, Beth Cooper herself sums it up best: "Who said it's supposed to be fun?"
During the graduation ceremony at Buffalo Glenn High School, bumbling, socially-challenged valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) professes his love for popular head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panattiere), as well as insulting his fellow classmates and embarrassing his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter). While the ill-conceived words toward his peers subsequently cause trouble, his honest confession appears to strike a chord with the idolized teen beauty. Much to Denis' surprise, Beth shows up at his house and a wild night of raucous adventure ensues - one filled with incessant partying, reckless driving, and Beth's maniacally jealous military boyfriend.
It's mildly amusing when the film starts with a rousing rendition of a song entitled "Forget Me" at a high school graduation. Following is a food-for-thought speech comprised of awkward prattling that struggles painfully for even the faintest hope of a smirk. But it doesn't get as much as a smile. As each second ticks away, the jokes get more stale, the slapstick more pathetic, and the plot more unbelievable. It's not that the story is hard to imagine - but it is difficult to understand why the cast and crew of I Love You, Beth Cooper ever thought this unimaginably pointless, hopelessly generic mess could pass as entertainment.
It's very tame, excruciatingly PG-13 and terribly immature - which means teens won't see it and neither will adults. Denis discusses with his father that the teenage coming-of-age subject is not a new idea; if only director Chris Columbus had taken that advice and stayed away from Larry Doyle's vastly unoriginal novel. The presentation is bland, the dialogue is weak and not a single memorable or creative concept is introduced during the entire film. It's as amateurish as the socially inept geeks lumpishly trying to court prom queens. Quite obviously an excuse to put Hayden Panettiere in a movie, the sheer lack of humor is the biggest disappointment, while the constant references to other films by Rich is an embarrassment to decent movies everywhere. Even the most pitiful have a worthwhile minute, but aside from being the first film in which Hayden bares a partial breast, I Love You Beth Cooper has not a single satisfying scene. When the film culminates in an all-guy wet towel fight, Beth Cooper herself sums it up best: "Who said it's supposed to be fun?"
Bruno
I expected there to be a high level of gay and crude sexual jokes in this latest Sacha Baron Cohen adventure. Then the movie took it 2 steps further than anything I had prepared myself for.
The result; a lot of uneasy moments, a lot of uncontrollable laughing, and some putting my hands over my face in disbelief or disgust. The humour in the film is clearly that of in-your-face slapstick, however given the extremes the film goes to, it's all relatively entertaining. Like Borat, all of the genuine laughs are in everyday peoples reactions, rather than the poorly structured story or scripted scenes.
That said, it was a challenge of how much one could handle, and I wouldn't have minded if they had left out a particular full frontal shot of the male anatomy spinning around (an image that will stay with me for some time and probably haunt my dreams). It's not a movie I could really get 'comfortable' with watching, seeing all hell unravel in a variety of situations one after another with very little in the way of breaks, but time did go by relatively quickly, which helps given the intensity of the scenes.
It's not a film for the faint of heart, and definitely has more potential to offend than Borat ever did, though for the more open minded among us who aren't so easily offended, you may find some enjoyment in this film. Humanities finest moments certainly aren't on display here. Go see it with a few mates or drinking buddies and have fun, though you may exit the cinema a little more disturbed than when you went in.
The result; a lot of uneasy moments, a lot of uncontrollable laughing, and some putting my hands over my face in disbelief or disgust. The humour in the film is clearly that of in-your-face slapstick, however given the extremes the film goes to, it's all relatively entertaining. Like Borat, all of the genuine laughs are in everyday peoples reactions, rather than the poorly structured story or scripted scenes.
That said, it was a challenge of how much one could handle, and I wouldn't have minded if they had left out a particular full frontal shot of the male anatomy spinning around (an image that will stay with me for some time and probably haunt my dreams). It's not a movie I could really get 'comfortable' with watching, seeing all hell unravel in a variety of situations one after another with very little in the way of breaks, but time did go by relatively quickly, which helps given the intensity of the scenes.
It's not a film for the faint of heart, and definitely has more potential to offend than Borat ever did, though for the more open minded among us who aren't so easily offended, you may find some enjoyment in this film. Humanities finest moments certainly aren't on display here. Go see it with a few mates or drinking buddies and have fun, though you may exit the cinema a little more disturbed than when you went in.
Public Enemies
Who was John Dillinger? We all know he was a flamboyant criminal who robbed banks, but who WAS he? The question of who Dillinger WAS is far more interesting than the question of what Dillinger DID, but this film, sadly, chose only to concentrate seriously on the latter and gave up almost immediately on the former.
This film goes out of its way--with a poor grasp of history's time-line, by the way--to show us what Dillinger did and who he hung around with, but it does next to nothing to explore who Dillinger was as a person or even as a criminal. It hints that Dillinger might be a passionate lover and loyal friend, but shows us little evidence aside from a few thrown-together seduction scenes (which make his girlfriend/heroine look like a dim-witted pushover) and an awkward love scene.
Even Dillinger's foil, Melvin Purvis, is a mystery in Mann's hands. Did he care about justice at all, or was he just a fascist on a personal crusade? Was he competent in the least or was he just a bumbling idiot? Squinty-eyed stares can only convey so much, after all.
Michael Mann seems to be in a terrible hurry to tell this story, as he is stuck between the rock of having to relate a relatively complete "crime-ography" of a notorious American gangster and the hard place of keeping the movie shorter than 2 1/2 hours.
As a result, a beautifully shot and edited movie that had a lot of promise ends up little more than a dumb, shoot-'em-up action movie wearing the fedora of "historical romance." Good for a date, but not a serious film.
Grade: C+. Things to look for: Mann's ham-handed and laughably obvious political commentary on the use of torture about 2/3 of the way through the movie; psychotically trigger-happy Baby Face Nelson well-played by Stephen Graham; cool old products (Zenth radio); great fashion sense
This film goes out of its way--with a poor grasp of history's time-line, by the way--to show us what Dillinger did and who he hung around with, but it does next to nothing to explore who Dillinger was as a person or even as a criminal. It hints that Dillinger might be a passionate lover and loyal friend, but shows us little evidence aside from a few thrown-together seduction scenes (which make his girlfriend/heroine look like a dim-witted pushover) and an awkward love scene.
Even Dillinger's foil, Melvin Purvis, is a mystery in Mann's hands. Did he care about justice at all, or was he just a fascist on a personal crusade? Was he competent in the least or was he just a bumbling idiot? Squinty-eyed stares can only convey so much, after all.
Michael Mann seems to be in a terrible hurry to tell this story, as he is stuck between the rock of having to relate a relatively complete "crime-ography" of a notorious American gangster and the hard place of keeping the movie shorter than 2 1/2 hours.
As a result, a beautifully shot and edited movie that had a lot of promise ends up little more than a dumb, shoot-'em-up action movie wearing the fedora of "historical romance." Good for a date, but not a serious film.
Grade: C+. Things to look for: Mann's ham-handed and laughably obvious political commentary on the use of torture about 2/3 of the way through the movie; psychotically trigger-happy Baby Face Nelson well-played by Stephen Graham; cool old products (Zenth radio); great fashion sense
The Goods Live hard,Sell Hard
It seems like every week i'm saying there is a new "funniest movie of the year." "Funny People" is my current favorite but "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" is it's non-dramatic equivalent.
First off this is a great role for Jeremy Piven, very much in Ari Gold-form as Don Ready, a car salesman-for-hire who travels around America with his crew helping out lackluster dealerships. Don is the type of character you immediately love, a born talker who not only manages to smoke on the plane ride over to Temecula, CA, he turns it into an all-out orgy complete with live mariachi band.
Why go to Temecula? The car dealership owned by Ben Selleck (James Brolin) is in trouble, struggling with rag-tag salesman, poor sales returns, and as Babs (Kathryn Hahn), one part of Don's crew points out, the place looks like a "refugee camp for dirty men." Along with his other two sidekicks, Brent (David Koechner) and Jibby (Ving Rhames), Don must sell all the cars off the lot or the dealership faces being sold to Stu Harding (Alan Thicke), another more successful dealer.
His son is Paxton Harding (Ed Helms), a late-30's man whose real dream is for his boy band to finally get off the ground. Paxton is engaged to Selleck's daughter Ivy (Jordana Spiro), who Don also finds attractive. Soon Ivy, plus a long-lost son Don fathered when he was 10-years old, encourages him to think about finally settling down. Wall to wall ridiculousness ensues.
Directed by Neal Brennan (a former writer on Chappelle Show) and written by Andy Stock and Rick Stempson, this is an offensively rude, crude, profane laugh machine from first scene to last. There are a few really good lines and the supporting cast gets some of the most hilarious material i've seen this year. The Daily Show's Rob Riggle as Selleck's son Peter, a 10 year old with a pituitary problem that makes him look 40. Kathryn Hahn as Don's sexually abrasive partner, using porno to sell cars and lusting after the innocent but very hunky Peter. Charles Napier as an older salesman who pines for the olden days and gets crazily angry and offensive to women, gays, Asians, and just about everybody really. Ving Rhames, playing a character who's had sex with thousands of women but has never "made love". Ed Helms, with his pot-belly and spiky hair-do, does nice work with the boy band stuff. James Brolin has a running gay gag with David Koechner that never gets old, and Brolin's car commercial, where he guilt-trips everyone to buy because he is dying of ball cancer, had me in tears. And like I said, I'm trying not to give too much away but Will Ferrell gets a cameo that single-handedly makes you forgive the atrocity that was "Land of the Lost."
This is all just the tip of the iceberg of this insanely hilarious movie. You just want to start listing funny thing after funny thing, its that good
First off this is a great role for Jeremy Piven, very much in Ari Gold-form as Don Ready, a car salesman-for-hire who travels around America with his crew helping out lackluster dealerships. Don is the type of character you immediately love, a born talker who not only manages to smoke on the plane ride over to Temecula, CA, he turns it into an all-out orgy complete with live mariachi band.
Why go to Temecula? The car dealership owned by Ben Selleck (James Brolin) is in trouble, struggling with rag-tag salesman, poor sales returns, and as Babs (Kathryn Hahn), one part of Don's crew points out, the place looks like a "refugee camp for dirty men." Along with his other two sidekicks, Brent (David Koechner) and Jibby (Ving Rhames), Don must sell all the cars off the lot or the dealership faces being sold to Stu Harding (Alan Thicke), another more successful dealer.
His son is Paxton Harding (Ed Helms), a late-30's man whose real dream is for his boy band to finally get off the ground. Paxton is engaged to Selleck's daughter Ivy (Jordana Spiro), who Don also finds attractive. Soon Ivy, plus a long-lost son Don fathered when he was 10-years old, encourages him to think about finally settling down. Wall to wall ridiculousness ensues.
Directed by Neal Brennan (a former writer on Chappelle Show) and written by Andy Stock and Rick Stempson, this is an offensively rude, crude, profane laugh machine from first scene to last. There are a few really good lines and the supporting cast gets some of the most hilarious material i've seen this year. The Daily Show's Rob Riggle as Selleck's son Peter, a 10 year old with a pituitary problem that makes him look 40. Kathryn Hahn as Don's sexually abrasive partner, using porno to sell cars and lusting after the innocent but very hunky Peter. Charles Napier as an older salesman who pines for the olden days and gets crazily angry and offensive to women, gays, Asians, and just about everybody really. Ving Rhames, playing a character who's had sex with thousands of women but has never "made love". Ed Helms, with his pot-belly and spiky hair-do, does nice work with the boy band stuff. James Brolin has a running gay gag with David Koechner that never gets old, and Brolin's car commercial, where he guilt-trips everyone to buy because he is dying of ball cancer, had me in tears. And like I said, I'm trying not to give too much away but Will Ferrell gets a cameo that single-handedly makes you forgive the atrocity that was "Land of the Lost."
This is all just the tip of the iceberg of this insanely hilarious movie. You just want to start listing funny thing after funny thing, its that good
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)