Doubt

Doubt. This movie has had some buzz for a while. It was nominated for academy awards before it even came out, has a strong cast, and no one seemed to know anything about it. Then it kind of went away. I had a chance to watch it, and most of my alternatives were horror movies so I went with it.

Priests. Nuns, catholic school. Strictness, religious services. I see. Meryl Streep is convincingly scary, Amy Adams is adorable and naive. Philip Seymour-Hoffman is ... well ... weird? I'm a big fan of PS-H. His range constantly impresses me. But he's weird in Doubt. I don't think it's just how his character is supposed to be, I think it's a bad role for him. The children were pretty unremarkable, as I guess they were supposed to be. There was a brief, slightly stirring scene involving Viola Davis, and I always like to see Ray Finkle's mother getting work.

Overall, the movie didn't really stand out to me. It was pretty boring, and took me a while to finish as I kept falling asleep. I'd say stay away unless you have a specific reason to watch it.

Sex and the City

Sex AND the City. I always call it Sex in the city. That's basically what it is. The loving wife recently watched this clunker while I was at work. Since I'll never watch it, I asked her to review it. Here we go :

"I recently watched 'Sex and the City: The Movie,' long after it's release for two reasons: 1) I was alone at home and 2) it was free on HBO. The alone part is necessary because my husband makes rude noises during the show(and most of the time for that matter - but it's worse during the show). The free part is because I am both cheap when it comes to movies and unemployed.

I give this movie a check-minus-minus. The writing was awful, the plot was boring, the characters seemed less interesting than in the series, and overall it was soul-less. Although I didn't think the TV series was extraordinarily relevant or compelling, at least it entertained me for a full hour. The movie was over 2 hours and didn't hold my attention for half of that.

Picture it: Manhattan, 2008. The movie begins by showing highlights of the sexual exploits of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte's lives and the fairytale romantic ending each found at the close of the cable series in 2004.

That's where it stopped being interesting. The writing had the depth and color of a script penned by frat boys asked to write about four women. Only their research material was limited to daytime's The View, O Magazine, and Harlequin romance novels. The movie had one non-white character who said sassy things like "Love is The Thing," and a montage of the ladies drinking and playing dress-up. Even the fashion, a highlight of the TV series, was boring in that the 4 fashionistas appeared to wear the same clothes as in 2004.

Skip "SATC: The Movie", even if it's free and you have no job."

Well done mugs :)

Babylon A.D.

Babylon A.D. Vin Diesel action movie... Quelle Surpise! It's set in a weird future, and has
Michelle Yoeh, lets hop right in.Vin is a badass, I get it. Rza can write music, I get it. Russia is in a bad place right now, I get it. Uh oh, Margo reluctantly agreed to watch this movie, and it's boring after 3 minutes. After the third awful edit, leaving us both wondering if they left out a scene or two, my lovely wife decided to 'rest her eyes'.
At least it's not all bad Vin Diesel. For about 10-15 minutes it feels like a bad Jason Statham movie. Congratulations. This movie isn't worth truly explaining, it's not even worth fixing the screwy formatting in this post. Just avoid B.A.D(see what I did there?)
zzzz
What? Just writing about the movie put me to sleep. Sorry for the drool...

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder. It looks funny, people liked it, great cast. How can it go wrong? I just watched it for the second time, and it didn't. It went right.
We start off with a few fake previews, a la Grindhouse, which well done. Then we get into the meat. Big stars are getting together to make a movie. sounds plausible, and it's what's really happening.
So what's good about TT? Jack Black is hilarious. I guess if you don't like Jack Black shtick, you might not be amused, but he cracks me up every time. Run around in your underwear, throw out non sequiturs, you had me at hello. Robert Downey Jr, terrific. You'll need a few viewings to actually listen to everything he spouts, and you'll be chuckling about it after. His character is outrageous, and unique IMO.
Steve Coogan isn't around for too long, but I love to see him. I wish he was my upstairs neighbor. If you haven't heard of Alan Partridge, you need to check him out. Soon, please. Danny McBride reprises his character(the inimitable Kenny Powers) from Eastbound & Down, who is kick ass and over the top.
What's not great about this movie? Well, you can tell Ben Stiller directed it. You can tell because he has himself do things that you might not otherwise cast a terribly terribly physically awkward person to do. Every time I see him run I want to slap him. Hard. Finally, Tom Cruise. Or rather the reaction to Tom Cruise. I actually really like poor Tommy. He was born in my home town, and I'm still behind him. But saying he was the best part of the movie is just ridiculous. And anyone who says they didn't know Les was TC, you're an idiot. Seriously. I'm done(don't get me started on the Jewface controversy). Watch it.

Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye. I've been on an action movie kick lately, and, well, this is an action movie. What do I know about it going in? It has Shia LeBeouf... And the title sounds like a singer's name. Shia was good in Even Stevens. He was terrible in a few other movies, and tolerable in Transformers. But for some reason people like him. And I don't mind him, or the fact that he always plays the put-upon good guy who doesn't know why this is happening to him. Oh well...
Eagle Eye turns out to be a terrorist espionage film. Not a lot of surprises, but the film certainly keeps us moving. I was excited to see Michael Chiklis being his hardass self(un commish like) and I'm always happy to see Michelle Monaghan. If you like her(as I do) you have to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it(her role) might blow your mind. Rosario Dawson (working with Shia for a second time - see terrible movie link above)is adequate as an Air Force investigator, she's obviously working hard to not be pigeonholed.
Despite a silly plot, the movie flows well, and you never get bored. I'm a big Billy Bob fan, and he doesn't disappoint. If you're sitting around, thirsting for an action movie, give it a shot.

Zack and Miri make a porno

Zack and Miri make a porno. Another movie from the goofy Judd Apatow group, though it wasn't actually written by Apatow. Pretty funny, the guy from the Office is cool, Jason Mewes is surreally funny.

Elizabeth Banks is hot, and funny, Rogan is his usual self. Kind of funny, worth watching if it's on TV. Nothing terribly original or memorable, besides Granny Panties.

Television

As many of you know, I got married somewhat recently(a little over a month ago) this was one of the factors in my blogging deficit. I am busy, I have a large backlog, frisbee is in full swing, I got married, and one other thing. Television. I have been watching a lot of television. This significantly takes away from my movie watching, but I love me programs. Why not talk about some of these?

Contender Muay Thai(CMT for short, terrible IMDB page btw)
I never got into the normal Contender series for a few reasons. Not the least of which was that amateur boxing is really boring and it sucks. Did anyone watch Olympic boxing this year in Beijing? It was boring and slow, and no one understood the point system; not the coaches, commentators, spectators, no one. CMT has a few advantages over plain old Contender shows. First, it is in Thailand, and has a quite varied international set of competitors. Second, any level of Muay Thai is exciting. They give us five full rounds, plenty of time to get some real action(TUF only gives us two). The only fight so far this season that went to decision(John Wayne vs the French idiot) was the bloodiest match of the season. Last night someone got KTFO, brutally. It wasn't like straight-arms out quivering, but he was down far after a 10 count was reached. What I like about CMT and TUF is that when you have a number of over aggressive fighters in a house, you don't have to manufacture drama.

Intervention
Yes I'm still watching this. I can't get enough of people on drugs acting stupid. Quite entertaining, though I probably don't feel the emotions they're trying to evoke. I'm actively rooting against most of them.

Daily Show/Colbert Report
Constantly making fun of McCain/Palin seems to take a bit of the sting out of the fact we're going to have a republican white house again. The wife and I are seriously talking about fulfilling my life long dream of moving to Canada. At least for a little while(four yearsish)

Project Runway
Say what you will, my wife loves it and it's mildly entertaining. I wish Tyra Banks would watch how Heidi Klum comports herself for a few episodes before continuing to act like a bigger spaz than Screech. I love watching Chelsea Handler take the piss out of Tyra every day, tho I'm leaving her show off this list.

I'm stopping here. But I am very excited for the new seasons of Knight Rider, Terminator, and the new hit Fringe.

The Grand

The Grand. First of all, I love David Cross. He's fantastic in everything he does. Now that you know I'm objective, this movie is funny. Very funny. I've gotten a little sick of Woody Harrelson over the years, but I really liked him in the lead role. The dysfunctional misanthrope is a very good contrast to how Woody lives his life. That's three movies in a row he's good in(also No Country and Transsiberian)

A loaded, terrific cast, good pace, and surprisingly the most accurate movie poker action I've seen make a fun time. If you like goofy comedies you'll like this movie. If you like David Cross or Woody Harrelson, if you like poker movies, check this out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Other Bolyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl. Two spicy ladies, one boring piece of European history. How can it go wrong? Bad acting, played out terribly slowly, and you have a snoozefest.

Trust me, if you can have Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johansson and not keep my interested you're doing something wrong. Skip it unless you're super bored.

Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl. I've wanted to see this for a long time. I've had it on DVD, just never got around to actually watching it. I was up at my cottage for about a week, and I want to watch a movie with me mum. Here we go.

Very cute, well done Indie flick. Good casting, Ryan Gosling shines as a quirky loner, and the setting really helps out the feeling of isolation. People have compared this to the Peter Sellers movie Being There(a movie as old as my baby blanket), which if you haven't seen you really need to.

Overall we both enjoyed it, and I'd highly recommend for pretty much anyone.

**
Bonus trivia fact :
The "Real Doll" was featured on "The Graham Norton Effect" (2004). The doll was given to the show and was stated as costing $6,000. She arrived in the same kind of crate that is shown in the movie. To test how real the doll looked they sat her in a bar with drink in hand, sunglasses and a speaker placed on her so they could talk to whomever came up to talk to the doll. One man was told to go into the bathroom, take off his pants and wait for her. He did.

Rush Hour 3

Rush Hour 3. Bad Bad Bad. why do I do this to myself?

Yes, I like Jackie Chan.
Yes, I like Chris Tucker.
Yes, I liked the first one. The second Rush Hour? Not so much.

I knew it would be terribe. Knew it. It was worse than that. I don't remember much more, but I don't want to. Stay away...

Wall-E

Wall-E. Cute, kid-ish looking new movie from Pixar about a robot that looks just like Johnny-5. So much so that they are making another Short Circuit movie. I kiiiiind of wanted to see it when released, and we couldn't find the DVD we were looking for so why not?

Set in the somewhat-unspecified, dystopic future, Wall-E is a small trash managing robot. Working all day to clean up the mess that absent humans have created and left. This world looks a bit like the future of I Am Legend. There is actually quite a bit of potential for scariness. Maybe that can be explored in a film not geared for a younger crowd.

I'll admit I'm a little soft, but Wall-E(the movie and the character) really grabbed me. I am woefully indifferent to travails of humans in real life and often cinema, but for some reason animals and robots get me. I seem to care about things that possibly can't take care of themselves. Wall-E has a friend cockroach, and makes a friend Eve, the interrelationships are achingly cute.

During the course of the movie, we find out what happened to humans, and why they haven't returned. We enjoy the voice-talents of Fred Willard and Jeff Garlin, and enjoy some fantastic animation. There is no speaking for about 20 minutes at the beginning, which is when Mugs fell asleep, but if you can get past that I think this is really a quality movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend, especially for a family.

The Love Guru

The Love Guru. Universally panned, weird looking movie about a new age 'love guru' played by Mike Myers. Previews that didn't look so bad, coupled with Myers and Jessica Alba as the female lead got me interested. Why not give it a shot?

So what did I think of it? Love guru was a really, really bad movie. Not the worst I've seen in a while(it did have a few positives) but it was bad. Myers wrote this, but he must have done the writing while doing something else. Flat, poorly set up jokes delivered by actors(including Myers himself) who seem completely disinterested in the film really don't do the script any favors.

The dialogue is crude and stilted, never really engaging the audience. The plot could have been silly and funny if executed well, but instead was just stupid and poorly conceived. I think this was the worst performance I've ever seen from Myers. It was truly disappointing, and I went in with low expectations. Alba, while still being lovely, was her usual terrible-actor self, and didn't help. Verne Troyer(mini me) didn't add much as the hockey manager, and Ben Kingsley should be ashamed of himself playing the cross eyed Guru Tugginmypudha. This guy was Gandhi for goodness sake.

Not much went right here, but lets see what did.
JT. That's right, Justin Timberlake. He really delivers as the generously endowed French Canadian goalie/antagonist. He actually seems like he is interested in his performance, and doesn't take himself too seriously. I really enjoyed JT in the Love Guru. In the last few years we have seen some hilarious commentating in movies, like Fred Willard in Best in Show, Jason Bateman in Dodgeball, and now Stephen Colbert in Love Guru. Colbert is a bright spot in a cloud of badness. I didn't mind Romany Malco(who you'll recognize from 40 year old virgin), but I think it was just in comparison to the other characters.

Overall, I'd say don't see this. When it's on free TV, you should probably still avoid it. But if you're doing something else and not devoting time to it, I guess you could spare a bit of time for a joke or two.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Another Judd Apatow movie, came out around when Baby Mama did. I wasn't excited when it came out, it honestly didn't look that interesting to me. It was mildly intriguing though, and it was 'available' so I gave it a shot.

So all I had been hearing about was some prolonged 'junk' shot, of Jason Segal. Shocking! Scandalous! Well, that was sooo overblown. It was like a few short, cuts, then immediate pan aways. Like they were embarrassed to be doing it. You see more penis in one minute in a locker room. If you're going to see it or not see it for the male frontal, you need another reason, it's a non factor.

This review isn't starting out very positive, but let me change that. I really really liked FSM. It had great writing, and the cast was outstanding. While Jason Segal was about what I expected(penis included), Kristen Bell was very convincing as a controlling ice queen. As my co-worker said to me this morning, "I can't get enough of Jonah Hill". That kid could make the dictionary funny if he read it. Mila Kunis was cute and funny, a good rebound love interest. The overly religious married couple was Kenneth from 30 Rock and Tammi from Strangers with Candy. Paul Rudd delivered as the weirdo surf-hippie, and Bill Hader really sold the no-common-sense having whipped friend. I was also delighted to see Long Duck Dong briefly appearing as Kunis' boss. I think my favorite though was the British Guy, whose every utterance bordered on ridiculousness.

There is more then enough stupid humor, with a lot of intellectual barbs sprinkled throughout. I found myself laughing out loud again and again(unfortunately more than Mugs). I could watch it again, and still enjoy. Check it out, folks.

PS - actual quote from the movie :
you don't need to put your p in a v right now
no, I need to b my l on someones t's

Finding Amanda

Finding Amanda. Work gets out early. Frisbee practice right near work a couple of hours later. Might as well go to a movie right? I haven't been to the Kendall theater in a while, so I decided to check out an Indie flick. Matthew Broderick is always compelling, though he often plays despicable characters. I also like Maura Tierney, and I think I know who Britney Snow is. Lets give it a shot.

First of all, Broderick is awesome. He's funny, pitiful, degenerate. He perfectly portrays someone with a problem. Gambling/addictions abound in his life, and he needs help. Help he's not always willing to take, but he seems to know on some level that he needs it.

Maura Tierney is his long suffering wife, who keeps believing in Taylor(Broderick) long after she shouldn't. Taylor's equally troubled but gorgeous niece is played by the thank-goodness-she's-really-22 Britney Snow. Snow really seems like she's living the life she's portraying, and positively sparkles. If this isn't enough, we have a terrific little part for Steve Coogan, who steals all of the scenes he is in(and is uncredited in the movie some some strange reason). I can't get enough of his comedic genius.

The film moves, has terrific dialogue, inspired acting, and a makes-you-laugh makes-you-cry story line. Be warned that it's a bit heavy, but I would certainly recommend it to pretty much everyone.