Movie Reviews and more…
I’m having a little fun tonight with my headers, just so you know. But How Do You Know? Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd are having a tough time figuring that out in the next James L. Brooks flick, another dramedy. Here’s the trailer:
Um, I’m not really sure about this one. I’ve loved Brooks’ movies like Broadcast News and As Good As It Gets, but is it me or does look kinda boring? Hope I’m wrong.
The title of the movie is actually Love and Other Drugs but you get the point. Check out this trailer to the new dramedy, which looks to be a kind of a twist on the weepy disease of the week, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
Step 1: Yawn. While Eat Pray Love has some enlightening, touching, visually breathtaking moments, you still end up praying it would end.
Step 2: Eat. The film is based on the hugely popular real-life travel diary by Elizabeth Gilbert, a divorced, depressed writer/journalist who took a year off to travel around the globe in hopes of finding some kind of meaning to her life. Yeah, not the most exciting subject for a movie, but casting Julia Roberts in the role at least adds some weight. We start with the Eat part. In the first leg of the trip, Roberts as Gilbert jets to Rome to live, breath and yes, eat, the Italian culture. And eat. And eat some more. It’s definitely the best part of the movie, only because it’s great to see a woman consume such great looking food with abandon. But at some point, you realize you’ve been watching the movie for over an hour and yet, she’s still in Italy. There’s two more countries to go, for chrissakes. That’s when the boredom starts to set in.
Step 3: Pray. Gilbert visits an ashram in India to find peace and tranquility – except she can’t quit fidgeting and thinking about all manner of things. Plus, it’s really hot and the food isn’t all that good. If I were her, at some point I’d say screw it and go back to Rome. Alas, she sticks it out, meeting a fellow troubled American (Richard Jenkins), who helps her to become enlightened. Ho hum.
Step 4: Love. And what a beautiful place to fall into it. The scenes in Bali are spectacular, as you can imagine, and so is gazing at the hunky, if slightly miscast, Javier Bardem, who plays Gilbert’s new love interest Felipe. Problem is, the two of them have zero chemistry, which sort of dampens things. Gilbert had more zing with that gorgeous plate of spaghetti. Like I said, GO BACK TO ITALY.
Step 5: Act. Roberts could possibly be nominated for an Oscar, depending on how well the film does at the box office (that’s a gamble) and whether they’ll be more than five more great performances by women in the next five months (kinda doubtful). In other words, Roberts could get a nod by default, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. You can’t really blame Eat Pray Love‘s tedium on her performance. She does her very best to carry the movie on her capable shoulders, but her character is, well, kind of irritating. You’re never quite sure why she’s so unhappy, just that she is, or why she whines so much, just that she does. Jenkins might be the only other performance worthy of a nod, as the former alcoholic from Texas who finds his inner whatever it is and whips Gilbert into shape.
Step 6: Read. You can’t entirely blame co-writer/director Ryan Murphy, of Nip/Tuck and Glee fame, either. I’m pretty sure the source material was difficult to translate, especially when you want to please the fans of the book while still making a compelling movie. But maybe Eat Pray Love should have just stayed on the page, so readers can put the book down, maybe fly to Naples for a slice of pizza, maybe ride an elephant in India and then pick it up to read a little later. Maybe on a beach in Bali.
Level of difficulty in watching Eat Pray Love: Kinda hard — to keep your eyes open.
Step 1: Give it a standing ovation. The Other Guys takes this summer’s crown for best and most quotable comedy.
Step 2: Laugh. Laugh really hard. The film’s trailer is actually one of those rare cases in which it is only a fraction of the humor in the film. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play detectives relegated to desk jobs. Wahlberg’s Terry Holtz has been sent there in disgrace for a reason I won’t divulged cause it’s really too good to give away, and he’s royally pissed about it. On the other hand, Ferrell’s Allen Gamble is seemingly optimistic, happy to fill out reports and stay away from the action. But he’s got a secret dark side he doesn’t ever want to let out. These two are about a mismatched as they can be and while that’s a pretty standard plot device, Wahlberg and Ferrell kill at it. Of course, they eventually go on a case together to chase down corporate thieves (think Bernie Madoff types), but it’s just another way to set up the laughs.
Step 3: Gotta love those wacky guys. Now while you think Wahlberg would be the straight guy, the two actors actually switch off, playing it both straight and crazy whenever the scene warrants it, which keeps the comedy fresh. It’s nice to see Ferrell playing off someone a little different than his usual cronies, and Wahlberg may have found a new niche. I see at least one Other Guys sequel in the future because we just HAVE to get these two together again. The supporting players also add a great comedic mix, from Eva Mendes as Gamble’s smokin’ hot wife (all of Gamble’s ex-girlfriends are hot, by the way), to Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as badass hero cops to Michael Keaton as the TLC quoting police chief to Steve Coogan as the Ponzi-scheming money man.
Step 4:Thank Adam McKay. I guess you can chalk it up to director/co-writer McKay, who has been creating funny stuff for his old pal Will Ferrell for many years now. I’d kill to be a fly on the wall with Ferrell and McKay start brainstorming. This former SNL head writer started out in the film biz with a bang with Anchorman and Talladega Nights and although his Step Brothers fell a little short, The Other Guys has completely made up for it. Seriously, my sides still hurt from laughing. Even if some of the jokes are overplayed, The Other Guys just keeps delivering the yucks. Not sure which is my favorite scene. The quiet fight scene at a funeral, the getting drunk in a bar montage, the “aim for the bushes” moment, the lion/tuna scenario, the “Seriously, who IS she?” realization or just about 20 more of those scenes. I can’t pick.
Level of difficulty in watching The Other Guys: Are you kidding? None. I’m going to want to see it again in the theaters AND own the DVD. The gag reel has got to be a classic.
Check out this trailer to the upcoming actioner Red, about a black-ops agent (Bruce Willis), who has to reassemble his old team in a last ditch effort to survive. Any movie in which Helen Mirren can shoot a gun is MY kind of movie.
Step 1: Get your serious brain-wrapping skills ready. It’s a little difficult to fully understand Inception — but you won’t have any trouble being wowed by the certain to-be-Oscar-nominated visuals.
Step 2: Don’t try and dissect the film’s plot too much. It would ruin it for those who should experience Inception with a clean slate, but I’ll just give you the basics. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an entrepreneur named Cobb who operates a small band of consultants, who, for a price, can go into other people’s dreams and “extract” information. There’s the architect (Ellen Page), the forger (Tom Hardy), the kicker (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the chemist (Dileep Rao) — all trained to do their jobs well. It’s never quite explained how they are trained (except for newbie Page), but we just assume it’s something they can do. The inception part in Inception is a little trickier, and frankly, more confusing, to explain. Suffice to say, it’s a technique to go deep within the subconscious to plant an idea. To get that deep, however, you’ve gotta be super prepared because you’re going to be knee-deep in some pretty crazy maze-like, dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream shit — and it isn’t very easy to get out.
Step 3: Marvel that man. Oh, how I love the way writer/director Christopher Nolan brain works. Most audiences know him as the Dark Knight guy, and while I appreciated his take on the Batman series, I remember him for his entirely unique Memento, his mind-twisty brainchild he made in 2000. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie quite like Memento, in which the story is basically told backwards, from ending to beginning, and Inception comes from THAT Nolan mind set. Except this time, the director has learned a few things about crafting a thrilling actioner as well, and so combines both the head games AND the car chases. I mean, there are some seriously intense action scenes in this film, especially the climactic “kick” sequence.
Step 4: Learn to adapt. The Inception performers also fit well within the Nolan milieu. The oh-so-serious DiCaprio is playing a variation of his character in Shutter Island, with the same tragic past. Page continues her streak of picking unique projects, as the studious and eager dream architect trainee. Gordon-Levitt cleans up well, looking dapper as DiCaprio’s No. 2 guy — and he gets to engage in the coolest fight sequence, like, ever. British actor Hardy (RocknRolla) is a refreshing diamond in the rough as the charismatic forger. As for the other key players, Ken Watanabe exudes a regal air as Cobb’s employer; Cillian Murphy plays it straight as the “mark”; and the lovely Marion Cotillard embodies the women who quite literally haunts Cobb’s dreams. A few may see Oscar nominations down the road.
Step 5: Win Oscars! Obviously, when you’re dealing with a film about dreams, anything can and will happen, and Nolan fully embraces that idea with stunning camera angles and special effects. Inception will be viewed as an early Oscar contender, that is a certainty — and at the very least, it should sweep many of the technical nominations come Oscar time, from visual to sound to cinematography. If there’s only one criticism about Inception, it would be how bleak and nearly soulless it can be at times. You are drawn in by the characters, yet it’s hard to feel for them. I firmly believe that is Nolan’s intentions. He’s not out to make a warm and fuzzy film, and I respect that because the rest of the film is simply a marvel in inventiveness.
Level of difficulty in watching Inception: Refer to my opening line. And the ending will leave you debating in that glass half full, half empty kind of way. Let’s just say, it’s a movie that needs to be seen more than once.
Step 1. Don’t mess with a good thing. Despicable Me follows a tried and true formula of good story + decent animation = entertaining family film. But it isn’t quite up to Pixar quality.
Step 2. Realize it can’t all be Pixar. I’ve said it before and will most likely say it again: Pixar sets a high bar when it comes to animated films. In essence, every other animated film (yes, I count the DreamWorks ones, too) seems to pale, even in the smallest degrees, in comparison. Thankfully, Despicable Me falls in the smallest degree category, meaning it does hold up better well under the Pixar microscope.
Step 3. Call your hero Gru. The story revolves around a wannabe bad guy named Gru (Steve Carell), who, up to this point, hasn’t really achieved truly evil mastermind status. I mean, the best he’s done is to steal the Statue of Liberty… the small one from Las Vegas. He tries, though, exciting his army of minions (little yellow creatures that look like pill capsules with goggles) with dastardly plans and inventing new – and mostly useless – devices to carry out such plans. But when a young whipper snapper evil genius named Vector (Jason Segel) starts beating Gru to the punch, Gru decides he’ll do the impossible – steal the Moon – to outshine his competitor. But Gru actually has some redeeming qualities, which come out when he adopts three little girls from the local orphanage as a way to get into Vector’s lair and unexpectedly becomes attached to them. Aw, turns out the hunched bald guy is a big softie after all! Does he eventually steal the moon? Or does he chuck his evil plans to make it to the girls’ ballet recital? I’m not going to tell; you’ll have to see for yourself.
Step 4. Hire a good vocal cast. Carell perfectly voices this loathsome yet sweet character, who is a cross between The Addams Family’s Uncle Fester and Boris Karloff. Segel plays Vector as a spoiled brat with too much time on his hands. The three girls, voiced by iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher, are adorable, especially Fisher whose line “It’s so FLUFFY!” makes me laugh every time I hear it in the trailer. Other supporting voices include Kristen Wiig as the mean orphanage owner; Russell Brand as Gru’s mad scientist partner; Will Arnett as the president of the evil mastermind bank (they’ve got to get their money for their doomsday machines somewhere); and then the minions, who almost always steal the show. I can see those toys all over the floor now.
Level of difficulty in watching Despicable Me: Nil. BUT … If Toy Story 3 had not just come out, I might be singing Despicable Me‘s highest praises. It’s hard for me to watch another film of its ilk and say, “Oh yeah, that’s just as good or even better.” Sorry, I can’t do it. Still, Despicable Me does what it sets out to do, and audiences of all ages should enjoy themselves.
Step 1: Accept the best. For the Twihard fans, Eclipse should thrill and excite to no end; for the rest of the world, it stands as the best of the three in the saga.
Step 2: Don’t have to be a Twihard. Now I wouldn’t call myself a Twihard, since I haven’t read all the books or have posters of Edward and Bella all over my room, BUT I did enjoy the first two movies, despite all the criticism. Look, I might be a 40-ish mother of two, but there is no way I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager again. All those raw emotions. And I am NOT alone. Women of all ages — and men, who are in touch with their romantic side — go gaga over the tortured romance of it all. Granted, both Twilight and New Moon are over-the-top melodramas of the highest order , but I think that’s why they are so popular (and better told onscreen than read in the books, in my opinion).
Step 3: Watch the vampire-werewolf-human triangle even out. Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) are finally allowed to be blissfully in love. In fact, old-school Edward, who comes from a time when getting married meant “I love you,” wants to wed the lovely Bella, even though she repeatedly declines. She just wants him to turn her into a vampire, so they can go loving each other happily ever after — and after and after and after. Edward wants to keep her pure, on all levels, and postpones the inevitable in hopes Bella might change her mind and want to stay human. Um, yeah, that’s not happening.
Step 4: Observe a small, well maybe not so small, obstacle in their way to the hereafter: Jacob (Taylor Lautner). He understands Bella has a major thing for the vamp but by god, he’s going to make her realize she should be with him, a hot-blooded human who just happens to turn into a werewolf to chase down bad-ass vampires every once in awhile. You can cut the sexual tension between Bella and Jacob with a knife, but ultimately, Bella stands by her choice. And speaking of bad-ass vampires, Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) still wants Bella’s head on a plate and creates an army of “newborn” vampires to come after Bella. It seems these bloodsuckers are more powerful in their new state than any other time as a vampire, so, the Cullens are riled up for a fight and ask their sworn enemies, the Wolf Pack, to help them out since the Cullens are going to need all the assistance they can get.
Step 5: Be like Harry. The Twilight Saga is a little like the Harry Potters in that they keep getting better with each new director. David Slade has had some experience with vampires, having helmed the horrifying 30 Days of Night, and you can definitely see his darker touches in Eclipse. The newborn vampires are downright scary, ripping it up in their new form and tearing through humans like paper. As are the menacing Volturi faction, lead by the pain inflicter Jane (Dakota Fanning), sent to the Pacific Northwest to “deal” with this new problem. And there’s a lot more action, believable action, which should please some of those husbands and boyfriends dragged to the theater by their respective mates.
Step 6: Remember, Eclipse is ultimately about the three main characters — Bella, Edward and Jacob — who have now become fully fleshed out by the actors who play them, and Slade does a really nice job making Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner look even more appealing than they already do, especially Stewart, who has much more of a spark in this installment. It could also be because Bella is becoming a stronger character, more sure of what she wants and more determined to get it. At one point, she tells Edward she is afraid he won’t love her as much once she becomes a vampire, to which he reassures her, “You’ll always be my Bella… just less fragile.” I’m sort of looking forward to that moment but will have to wait for the last two Breaking Dawn movies!
This trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows gives me goosebumps, I’m THAT excited!
Step 1: Improve on a classic. Toy Story 3 doesn’t try to surpass its predecessors but simply continues the story in such a wonderful, natural progression that it melds with ease into the brilliance that is the Toy Story lore. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.
Step 2: Have no fear. I felt a little trepidation about a third Toy Story, only because the first two were so fantastic, I was afraid the third one couldn’t measure up. Now, of course, I just shake my head. Toy Story is what started the whole trend of animated excellence from Pixar, with Toy Story 2 being one of those rare occasions a sequel stood on its own as a classic. Why wouldn’t the third in the franchise shine just as brightly as the first two, and then some? It’s sort of silly I doubted it.
Step 3: Continue the story. In the 11 years since we last saw Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the gang, the toys have finally been put in the toy box, as their owner Andy has grown older. They miss being played with, but they understand how it goes. Just so long as they have each other, it should be OK. And when Andy is finally heading off to college, some of the toys, including Jessie (Joan Cusack), are afraid they may be discarded once and for all, but Woody assures them Andy will take care of them, even if that means they’ll all go into the attic for awhile. But through a mishap in cleaning the room, the gang ends up getting donated to a local daycare center, where they meet other toys in their same predicament — or so they think. Turns out, the daycare world of toys is run by one rough, stuffed bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty), who rules with fear and intimidation. Our gang of toys quickly realize they need to get out of there and back to Andy pronto, before it’s too late. Let the great escape begin.
Step 4: Bring back all the familiar voices. Hanks, Allen, Cusack, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, plus a few new ones, add colorfully to the mix, including stand out Michael Keaton as the narcissistic Ken, the groovy cool cat with an ascot and a huge wardrobe of clothes. Think of him as the plastic, small, ever-tan male doll version of Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw. Ken definitely provides many of the film’s guffaws. Character actor Beatty does a nice job as the heavy, and try to recognize the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin, and many others.
Step 5: Hail to Pixar! Seriously, those folks over there never cease to amaze me — and I seem to write that every time I review one of their movies. At some point, I may be disappointed, but it’s hard to see how that might happen. Toy Story 3 is so full of rich, hilarious, wonderful, scary, meaningful, heart-wrenching moments, I’m sort of tearing up all over again, just remembering. Pixar stories ALWAYS make me cry, one way or another, but Toy Story 3 really does a number on you. It’s probably because these are characters you already know and love and watching them all interact again feels so comforting and a little anxious in wondering what’s going to happen to them.
Step 6: Learn a lesson while you’re at it. Those of us who’ve been watching the movies since 1995 know the drill. For those young ones who are seeing a Toy Story for the first time, there will be times when they may get scared (the incinerator scene is a doozy) or might not understand, but I think it’s still a film for all ages. Parents may find themselves engaged in conversations afterward, about what happens to their old toys when they don’t play with them anymore or about throwing things away and what happens to trash. I’m actually one of those parents who threw old toys out and, well, I feel horrible about it now. I still have one small-ish child left, and let’s just say, I’m going to find wonderful new homes for those leftover toys when she’s done playing with them, so help me god.
Level of difficulty in watching Toy Story 3: No difficulty at all. This is another instant classic.
