Saturday, December 22, 2012

This is 40: Movie Review


Dragging out unfunny comedy with rude characters.

The supporting characters of “Knocked Up” (2007) have matured. Married couple Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are turning 40. This does not mean that writer, director Judd Apatow has matured. It’s a bit more of a dramedy than some of his other comedic adventures but it’s still his typical low-brow humour spread out for over two hours. The characters are older, more assured in who they are, but their responses to life are less cultured. 2012

Directed by: Judd Apatow

Screenplay by: Judd Apatow

Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Maude Apatow, and Iris Apatow

Friday, December 21, 2012

Hyde Park on Hudson: Movie Review

   


Through one affair, one perfect friendship is formed at the beautiful Hyde Park on Hudson.
In 1939, King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) made the trek across the ocean to visit American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray) at “Hyde Park on Hudson”. It was the first trip of its kind and tensions were high. First Lady Eleanor and Mother Roosevelt expected perfection, and the Queen (the eventual Queen Mother) also expected perfection. Roosevelt was in no shape to deliver perfection. 2012

Directed by: Roger Michell

Screenplay by: Richard Nelson

Starring: Laura Linney, Bill Murray, Samuel West and Olivia Colman

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Looper: Movie Review

   


Struggles to find anything to ruminate on when using time travel to go from action to drama.
“Looper” has supposedly redesigned the science fiction genre. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think it’s unusual for such a film to highlight style over substance. Time travelling has been done before, the battle between current self and future self has been done before, and wanting to choose the love of a good woman over a violent career path has been done before. Maybe the style is better, but that is for somebody else to debate. 2012

Directed by: Rian Johnson

Screenplay by: Rian Johnson

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt

Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Cabin in the Woods: Movie Review

   


Twisting the horror genre to make it smart and funny as well as gory.
First disclaimer: I don’t like horror movies. Second disclaimer: I had no intention of watching this until it picked up a few original screenplay nominations and under the “comedy” genre. A horror-comedy, now we’re talking. “The Cabin in the Woods” is not just a comedy in the vain of going over-the-top with the horror; it’s a comedy in the sense that they’re insulting humankind, horror filmmakers, and what humankind is going to become because of horror filmmakers. 2011

Directed by: Drew Goddard

Screenplay by: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard

Starring: Kristen Connolly, Fran Kanz, Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford

Friday, December 7, 2012

Anna Karenina: Movie Review


   


A beautiful production that transforms Anna Karenina into a modern woman.
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats; the play is about to begin. And thus, with the curtains drawn back, the ingenuity, creativity and brilliance of Joe Wright's “Anna Karenina” begins. By taking it out of an unforgiving landscape and placing it inside a theatre to unfold on an infinite stage, but keeping it in 1870s Russia, we have a true-to-source story that can be adapted for our modern enjoyment. 2012

Directed by: Joe Wright

Screenplay by: Tom Stoppard
Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy

Starring: Keira Knightley, and Jude Law

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Cloud Atlas: Movie Review


Three hours with one bad idea and six boring stories does not add up to a good movie.

“Cloud Atlas” is one of those epic movies interweaving completely different vignettes into a seemingly harmonious whole. To me, the big problem comes with the fact that these six stories are not connected by a related, comprehensive story. They are only connected by an idea - a single, religion based, uniformed idea. And that cannot carry an entire movie, let alone a three-hour long movie. And it’s not harmonious. The cutting back and forth of the stories is very uneven. 2012

Directed by: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski

Screenplay by: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski

Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, and Doona Bae

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Killing Them Softly: Movie Review


   


Disguising a brilliant take on the American economy with a convoluted gangster plot.
Set after the 2008 presidential election between John McCain’s “Country first” and Barack Obama’s “Change we can believe in” platforms, “Killing Them Softly” is about living the American dream, the downfall of the American economy, and the difference between a country and a business. But you would be forgiven if you didn’t find that storyline very evident. Those are just ideas not plot lines. 2012

Directed by: Andrew Dominik

Screenplay by: Andrew Dominik

Starring: Brad Pitt, and Scoot McNairy