Newlyweds: Movie Review

Characters who step out of their relationship and into real life.

The opening scene of “Newlyweds” looks like it could have come out of any Woody Allen movie (or “Husbands and Wives” to be more specific). Two couples are sitting in a restaurant discussing the various ins and outs of married life. And then they turn to the camera and start saying what they really think. The editing from typical romantic dramedy-styled scenes to documentary-styled scenes is where the comedy comes in.		2011 Directed by: Edward Burns Screenplay by: Edward Burns Starring: Edward Burns, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Kerry Bishé

The Raven: Movie Review

 

Poe's literary roots still shine through the action-influenced detective story.

A merging of the life of Edgar Allan Poe, his poetry, the crimes of his stories and a woven, fictional tale of all of the above is “The Raven”. In the opening minute, I was ready to knock the film down for missing some of the significant details of The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Except this film isn’t trying to faithfully recreate anything, you just have to get interested in a Poe-based detective story.		2012 Directed by: James McTeague Screenplay by: Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare Starring: John Cusack and Luke Evans

The Five-Year Engagement: Movie Review

 

Dragging out a romantic comedy with some hilarity and heart but a lot of bad jokes.

“The Five-Year Engagement” has one of those titles where no other explanations are necessary. It’s a romantic comedy, obviously. They fall in and out of love, obviously. And it’s way too long. I’m not sure why Hollywood hasn’t figured out that romantic comedies do not need to be more than two hours long. We know the formula, trust us.		2012 Directed by: Nicholas Stoller Screenplay by: Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt