Tag Archives: movie review

Movie review : "He’s just not that into you".

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Hes just not that into you 202x300 Movie review : "Hes just not that into you".Ok, everyone who reads this knows of my penchant for romantic comedies so I owe no one an apology for it icon smile Movie review : "Hes just not that into you".

That being said, Sunday afternoon after lunch, I snuck off to see “He’s just not that into you” which is being billed as a romantic comedy about dating, breaking up, and coming together.

There are “chick flicks (which sometimes masquerade as date movies)” and there are “girl movies”. “He’s just not that into you” falls clearly and strongly into the latter.

While I certainly admit that I laughed a few times, adding the word comedy to the promotion is kinda misleading. Instead, what we get is a — sometimes funny, sometimes painful — look into situations that both women and men encounter while dating, or even in a committed relationship.

- The obsessive woman who goes on what she considers a great date with a guy who never returns her phone calls.
- The married man who got married out of a sense of obligation, and now finds himself attracted to another woman.
- The dating couple who’ve been together for 7 years but aren’t yet married because he doesn’t want to.

etcetera.

I have to say that the casting in this movie is absolutely phenomenal, from Aniston, to Cooper, to Barrymore, to Affleck, to well.. Just everyone in what seems like a 20 member cast. I don’t mean to leave ANYONE out, because EVERYONE did such a great job with their roles, I just would spend the entire blog talking about each individual cast member, and that’s not what it’s about.

What it is about, if I “get it”, is looking at what we — as human beings — put ourselves through to find the perfect soul mate. Presented in “chapters” or better yet, “scenarios”, the movie takes a while to put each couple through the “whyzzat” of how they got to where they are. Trouble is, and the reason I use the word “painful” is because every single one of us has gone through one or more of these scenarios on a very personal level.

Like I said, the obsessive, the cheater, the liar, the “can’t commit” guy, the user, and so forth. Sometimes, especially in my case, watching what appears to be a VERY honestly written movie can strike close to home, but in a good “substitute shrink” kind of way.

Would I recommend this movie?
Yes. I already have recommended it to a friend, but as a matinee.

Will I remember this movie after six months?
Unknown. While the subject matter was phenomenally presented, there’s just something there that is more “art film” than entertaining.

Would I buy this movie?
Yes, probably on DVD (not BluRay) because of the cast and high level of acting and the fact that ya never know when I might want to bundle up on the bed and cry myself to sleep..

Movie Review : Seven Pounds

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seven pounds 202x300 Movie Review : Seven PoundsI’ve said it before. I’m a fan of Will Smith. Always have been, with two notable exceptions, “Six Degrees of Separation” and his later “Hancock” movies. That being said, I can only summarize his latest, “Seven Pounds” in one inextricably speechless word…

WOW…

The premise of the movie isn’t exactly earth shattering for those of you who’ve seen the previews, but to say that you “figured it out” before the last 45 minutes or so would be surprised.

In a nutshell, “Ben” is an IRS-agent on a mission. Whether to pay his penance of to cure his soul, we don’t know, but for the first 2/3 of the movie, what you see seems a bit disjointed but is a very intriguing overview following Ben anonymously helping what he discovers to be good people where he sees himself as “less than ordinary”.

As the story unfolds, you get more and more of the “why”, but never in enough detail to truly understand what’s going on until the very end of the movie.

Frankly, I haven’t seen a better, or a more emotional movie in any time frame I can think of. This movie is amazing. It’s emotionally intense, and it proves once and for all that Will Smith (and Rosario Dawson) has an almost limitless gift for acting that’s just now being scratched at the surface.

If Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, and Barry Pepper don’t walk away with Oscars, there simply is NO credibility to the Academy Awards.

I’m going to go for 5 out of 5 stars here, and it moves to the top of my “Buy it Now” list when out on Blu-Ray.

Costner’s Swing Vote

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swingvote Costners Swing Vote

Been a long couple of weeks.  Went on business travel at the end of the month, got home and was pretty much wiped, which meant an entire weekend spent pretty much asleep in my bed.  Kinda funny, my internal voice was having an argument with my conscience over whether or not to get up and be motivated.   Found my way out of the house a couple of times, but it was too bleepin’ hot, so the “crawl back in bed” voice won.

This, much to the chagrin of my lawn which desperately needs my attention..

… Anyway, went to see the new movie “Swing Vote” this weekend..  You know, the new “Kevin Costner has a message about politics” movie?  Well, despite the potential to be heavy handed and left-coasty, I have to say that it was really a good movie to watch and while lots of messages were presented, none of them seem to be aimed at the viewer and more at the politicians and media, which I’m ok with skewing…

As for the rest, Kelsey Grammar and Dennis Hopper were GREAT as the respective incumbent and challenger hopeful who went out of their way to pander to Bud Johnson, Costner’s “below average, recently unemployed, beer guzzling, every-guy-with-a-heart”.

To me, the real standout of the entire movie was Molly Johnson, Bud’s 12 year old, politically conscious daughter, supremely played by Madeline Carroll who — according to the IMDB — has been acting about as long as she’s been able to talk coherently.  Well done Ms. Carroll.   Well done.

Are there any surprises in this movie?  Nah.  It’s exactly what you’d expect from Costner and crew, but it is well done, and surprisingly fun to watch.  Sort of like the same guilty pleasure you get from watching Bill Maher without all the angry, self-righteous subtext.

Movie Review: "Don’t mess with the Zohan" — a week later

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Movie Review: "Dont mess with the Zohan" a week laterAs the two people on planet earth who read this blog know, I did a “Movie Quickie” review last week of Adam Sandler’s latest movie, “Don’t mess with the Zohan”… In said review, I did admit that it had me laughing through most of the scenes.

That being said, as with most movie Quickies, now that I’ve had a chance to think about it for a week, let it sink in, and even catch a few minutes of it again, I have to wonder, what kind of crack was I smoking?

After seven days or so, I’m sitting here trying to recall the scenes that had me chuckling throughout, and I really, really can’t. As with lots of these “number 1 movie in America” (of the week) movies come and go with the best parts having been shown in the previews. I try specifically to avoid previews whenever possible, but you know how it is. This movie is proof positive that a first impression isn’t everything

A good movie introduces something into the social consciousness. Something that can be remembered, whether it’s Meg Ryan’s infamous diner scene in “When Harry Met Sally“, or something spoken which invades our public lexicon like Dr. Evil’s “One Biiiilllion dollars“… Zohan a week later, proves to have none of that. Instead, despite my initial guffaws, there is very little redeeming value to the entire movie.

Maybe it was the accents, maybe it was the over-the-top nature of it all, but in quick, rambling summation, this one is coming off of my “to buy” list, until it hits the $2.99 shelf.

Iron Man — feeling a bit like I missed it…

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Ok,

First, a confession. This is being written while sitting on the beach. For me, that’s a cool thing.

Then I feel compelled to ask… “Am I the only one on the planet who didn’t really fall in love with the new Iron Man movie?” Every review I’ve read pretty much pegs it as the second coming of Christ, and I’m pretty much “meh…” about the movie itself.

iron man 209x300 Iron Man feeling a bit like I missed it...Props where they’re due. Robert Downey Jr. is PERFECTLY cast as a smug, arrogant Tony Stark. No matter what, he did a fantastic job with the role and I love watching him take on the big bad guys, no matter how contrived they may be… Hopefully we’ll get a few sequels to flesh everything out.

That being said, let’s address the rest of the cast, and storyline, because this is where the movie completely falls apart for me. Without knowing any of the history behind the movie, it’s almost as though it was written by two different writing teams who’d never met, then smashed together by director Jon Favreau (who also played Tony’s limo driver) into the movie that played out on the screen.

Tony’s leading lady, Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) seemed almost underplayed, which is unusual for ms. Paltrow considering her other roles. The “best buddy” Col Rhodes (played by Terrence Howard) came across — to me at least — as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” military guy, and the big evil bad guy (played by Jeff Bridges) came across is painfully one-dimensional.

In the end, Downey was phenomenal, the concept was great, the technology ideas were fantastic, but the movie as a whole left me feeling a bit flat and uninspired. This after watching it twice to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything the first time…

What sucks most to me, is that it was THE movie I was waiting for this season, even above the much hyped Indiana Jones.

In the end, here’s to hope for sequels, maybe they can fix the glaring problems I see before me. I almost dare you to tell me how you see it differently.

– Wayne

Movie review: "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"

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DodgeballMovie DVD 213x300 Movie review: "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"As we are prone to do (if you can be prone to being spontaneous), about 8:45pm last night, Melissa said “Dodge Ball at 9:30?”, and we were off!

I have to say, in reference to the movie that I have yet to see a single more “laugh out loud” movie this year. True, a lot of the jokes were a bit juvenile, but anyone going to see Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller in the same movie shouldn’t expect anything less… Ever…

Now, getting to bed about midnight, my 38 year old body is in mid-rebellion. Where I normally am wide awake at 6:00 am and fully working by 7, I didn’t even pretend to acknowledge the Earth until I heard Melissa getting into the shower. Wobbling my way into my computer room, I was shocked to realize it was 10:00 am.

Why is it, that when you oversleep — usually getting too much sleep — the rest of the day creeps by in the painful, movie-like slow motion?

Wayne Hunt
segwayne.com