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.