It's Complicated says the title, but the movie wasn't. Overall, it was enjoyable and we even laughed out loud many times.
Meryl was great as always, Alec was OK, but everytime I see him all I can think about was his cruel voicemail to his daughter several years ago.
In this film, it's basically about how a divorced couple reconnects and then has to deal with the consequences and whether to stay together or not. The premise has potential to be very funny but the writer fails to put enough funny parts in. John Krasinski was superb. Just about every one of his scenes was funny and those were the ones which caused us to laugh the most. Next time, put John into the leading role. He would make an excellent character in a remake of Vacation with John playing Chevy Chase.
There was many scenes in which marijuana plays a key role. They were very funny, almost akin to a Cheech and Chong movie.
Overall, an enjoyable film and I will give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Go see it!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Nine
Hello....Wake up Mr. Marshall. Why did you put a loser character in the title role. No offense to Daniel Day-Lewis, whom I thought did an excellent job. We need movies with a strong main character who has their shit together! I'm tired of seeing films with loser main characters. Speaking of which, I'm planning to see Crazy Heart soon, and it has the same problem.
This film has more stars than anything in recent memory. Kudos to the producer who was able to pull it off even with all those big ego's and demanding tirades.
What's with all the smoking! This is setting a bad example. It would not have changed anything if no one smoked.
First and foremost, Fergie and Penelope Cruz did excellent musical routines, which was the main reason why I went anyway. I never did see Chicago but I was engrossed in the trailer for Nine enough to see the whole film. I also enjoyed the music and the other routines too. I really liked Kate Hudson's silver musical outfit but it didn't look like she was really the one singing. The story, on the other hand, was boring. If not for the musical routines, this would have received no stars. I will give it 3 out of 5 stars.
This film has more stars than anything in recent memory. Kudos to the producer who was able to pull it off even with all those big ego's and demanding tirades.
What's with all the smoking! This is setting a bad example. It would not have changed anything if no one smoked.
First and foremost, Fergie and Penelope Cruz did excellent musical routines, which was the main reason why I went anyway. I never did see Chicago but I was engrossed in the trailer for Nine enough to see the whole film. I also enjoyed the music and the other routines too. I really liked Kate Hudson's silver musical outfit but it didn't look like she was really the one singing. The story, on the other hand, was boring. If not for the musical routines, this would have received no stars. I will give it 3 out of 5 stars.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Me & Orson Wells
I'm not much for period pieces and unless you are, I would probably skip this. I was bored out of my mind. Christian Kay did an excellent job as Orson and Claire Danes and Zac Efron were good too. It's just the overall movie was boring. Too many items did not add up and I question the set designers too.
At the second scene in the movie, Zac buys some roasted in-the-shell peanuts from a street vendor. Then in the third scene he is tossing them into the air and catching them in his mouth. Obviously you need to shell them first, but that was not seen nor did it appear to be intended. He was walking along, pulling them from the bag and tossing them in the air.
The other thing that did not match up seemed to be the costumes from the play Orson was making. It was Caesar, yet the costumes appears to be from the Confederate army days. Did not match at all. They should have been wearing togas!
I will give this 2 out of 5 stars, if only for the performance of Christian Kay.
At the second scene in the movie, Zac buys some roasted in-the-shell peanuts from a street vendor. Then in the third scene he is tossing them into the air and catching them in his mouth. Obviously you need to shell them first, but that was not seen nor did it appear to be intended. He was walking along, pulling them from the bag and tossing them in the air.
The other thing that did not match up seemed to be the costumes from the play Orson was making. It was Caesar, yet the costumes appears to be from the Confederate army days. Did not match at all. They should have been wearing togas!
I will give this 2 out of 5 stars, if only for the performance of Christian Kay.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Young Victoria
Ah, to spend almost two hours with Emily Blunt! Emily did an excellent job. the first part of the movie was slow but once she became the Queen, it was better. While her performance was not Oscar calibre, there was one scene near the end that Emily's passion really showed through.
This was basically a movie about the early days of Queen Victoria. It showed the ups and downs of the monarchy and to me, at least, was interesting. I did notice one thing that I did not think was to the period. One gentlement had a Yo-Yo. I could be wrong but don't think they were around in the 1830's. Now, I'm going to go buy some books on the subject so I can learn more about it.
Overall 3 out of 5 stars.
PS. Still boycotting AMC's concession stand until they remove the reserved seating. You know how long it takes for the cashier now? Way too long. They are too slow. And worse still, you cannot use your AMC gift card on line to buy tickets. What's the purpose of having it if you cannot use it. Also, the person in charge of closing the auditorium doors when the movie starts, should be fired today. They failed to do their job and it is not the first time.
This was basically a movie about the early days of Queen Victoria. It showed the ups and downs of the monarchy and to me, at least, was interesting. I did notice one thing that I did not think was to the period. One gentlement had a Yo-Yo. I could be wrong but don't think they were around in the 1830's. Now, I'm going to go buy some books on the subject so I can learn more about it.
Overall 3 out of 5 stars.
PS. Still boycotting AMC's concession stand until they remove the reserved seating. You know how long it takes for the cashier now? Way too long. They are too slow. And worse still, you cannot use your AMC gift card on line to buy tickets. What's the purpose of having it if you cannot use it. Also, the person in charge of closing the auditorium doors when the movie starts, should be fired today. They failed to do their job and it is not the first time.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Did You Hear About The Morgans?
If you didn't, then there is no reason to worry.
First of all, I saw this at AMC Century City. They recently started reserved seating and we don't like it. Every employee within earshort heard that we don't. We even called corporate and filed a complaint. I am boycotting their sole moneymaker, the concession, until they remove the reserved seating.
This movie is a typical fish out of water movie and generally, if done well, can be very funny. Think, Crocodile Dundee. I guess the writer was not thinking funny when he wrote this. I think in this movie they added too much relationship material and not enough funny fish out of water scenarios. It had the premise to be very funny, but falls flat.
Sarah Jessica Parker, or SJP, does fairly well and you can see some of the same energy she had from her TV show in the 80's called Square Pegs. Hugh Grant, who plays the husband is boring and wrongly cast. They don't seem to have any chemistry. SJP should have been paired with another actor.
Mary Steenburgen did an excellant job. I loved her in Time After Time from around 1979. She still looks great and does a great job here with her husband Sam Elliot. Sam has done many great films including Lifeguard from the 70's. Great film.
If you are looking for a relationship movie, which it doesn't seen to be billed as, then you've found the right movie. It seems to be billing as a fish out of water movie, and that fish has turned rotten.
With that, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. It's more of a chick flick than a guy type of movie. If you've seen the trailer, you've really seen all the best parts anyway.
First of all, I saw this at AMC Century City. They recently started reserved seating and we don't like it. Every employee within earshort heard that we don't. We even called corporate and filed a complaint. I am boycotting their sole moneymaker, the concession, until they remove the reserved seating.
This movie is a typical fish out of water movie and generally, if done well, can be very funny. Think, Crocodile Dundee. I guess the writer was not thinking funny when he wrote this. I think in this movie they added too much relationship material and not enough funny fish out of water scenarios. It had the premise to be very funny, but falls flat.
Sarah Jessica Parker, or SJP, does fairly well and you can see some of the same energy she had from her TV show in the 80's called Square Pegs. Hugh Grant, who plays the husband is boring and wrongly cast. They don't seem to have any chemistry. SJP should have been paired with another actor.
Mary Steenburgen did an excellant job. I loved her in Time After Time from around 1979. She still looks great and does a great job here with her husband Sam Elliot. Sam has done many great films including Lifeguard from the 70's. Great film.
If you are looking for a relationship movie, which it doesn't seen to be billed as, then you've found the right movie. It seems to be billing as a fish out of water movie, and that fish has turned rotten.
With that, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. It's more of a chick flick than a guy type of movie. If you've seen the trailer, you've really seen all the best parts anyway.
Movie Reviews
Thank you for reading my blog. This is my first official movie review, which follows in the next entry. A typical American sees 4 films a year. On the other hand, I see 4-6 a week! Mainstream and many Indy films. I hope you enjoy my reviews and they will be brutally honest.
Friday, December 18, 2009
AMC Theatres
Recently, someone at AMC decided that they needed to implement reserved seating at the Century City Los Angeles location. This is a bad idea.
The average person goes to 4 movies a year. I see 4-6 per week! This is a bad idea. I don't want to pick my seat from the lobby, I want to go in, see who is there and decide where I want to sit. This is an American right! I go to the movies in the morning and typically they have maybe 3-20 people in there and they may have 400 seats. Who needs reserved seating! What if you are a girl and you pick a seat and later when the movie starts and one more person comes in and happens to pick the seat next to you. This needs to stop.
Movies theatres make their money at the concession stand. The first two weekends a movie is out, almost all of the ticket sales goes to the studio so the theatre has to sell popcorn and soda to make any money. Boycott the concession stand, show them you don't want reserved seating.
Reserve the American right to sit where you want to. Call AMC customer service at 877-262-4450 and voice your opinion.
The average person goes to 4 movies a year. I see 4-6 per week! This is a bad idea. I don't want to pick my seat from the lobby, I want to go in, see who is there and decide where I want to sit. This is an American right! I go to the movies in the morning and typically they have maybe 3-20 people in there and they may have 400 seats. Who needs reserved seating! What if you are a girl and you pick a seat and later when the movie starts and one more person comes in and happens to pick the seat next to you. This needs to stop.
Movies theatres make their money at the concession stand. The first two weekends a movie is out, almost all of the ticket sales goes to the studio so the theatre has to sell popcorn and soda to make any money. Boycott the concession stand, show them you don't want reserved seating.
Reserve the American right to sit where you want to. Call AMC customer service at 877-262-4450 and voice your opinion.
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