Everything about Away We Go says that it should be a relatively good movie but something was missing and I just can't put my finger on it. First you have the always fabulous director, Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road), funnyman John Krasinski, and the lovely Maya Rudolph. Second you have extraordinary performances by the rest of the cast Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, and Jim Gaffigan. I won't forget to mention Allison Janney (recently played the mother in Juno) who delivered one of the funniest performances I have seen all year.
In Away We Go, we have a couple of 30 somethings who are about to have their first child and are scoping out various parts of the grand ole U.S. of A. to find the perfect place to start their family. They visit friends and they visit family but there is something incredibly wrong with each place and sometimes it is might just be the outrageous personalities. Sam Mendes takes you on an emotional journey in which you will experience some highs and some lows but interjects a lot of humor along the way.
If I had to hammer down one thing that takes away from the film I would say that the relationship between the main characters isn't that believable and I fault Maya Rudolph for that. John Krasinski gave a good performance but it wasn't memorable, so for those reasons I give Away We Go a C+.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tetro
This film has been given relatively positive reviews from the top critics for its visual effects (which aren't that great) and emotionally driven overtones but I try not to write reviews for the critic-types but more for the average moviegoer. So here it goes...
Tetro is a story about 2 estranged brothers, Bennie & Angelo (aka Tetro), who have a rather interesting past and family dynamic. Most of the movie digs deeply into the past of Tetro and the events that led to the eventual schism between him, his father and his brother. The tie that brings the two brothers together is an unpublished, and quite accomplished play, that Tetro wrote years back which his snooping brother rewrites and releases as an onstage play. If you can make it all the way to the last 10 minutes for the major plot twist congratulations, I dozed off a couple times.
The only way I could recommend this movie is if you love low budget, highly dramatic, and boring films. This is not the best work of renowned director, Francis Ford Coppola and gets a dismal D--.
Tetro is a story about 2 estranged brothers, Bennie & Angelo (aka Tetro), who have a rather interesting past and family dynamic. Most of the movie digs deeply into the past of Tetro and the events that led to the eventual schism between him, his father and his brother. The tie that brings the two brothers together is an unpublished, and quite accomplished play, that Tetro wrote years back which his snooping brother rewrites and releases as an onstage play. If you can make it all the way to the last 10 minutes for the major plot twist congratulations, I dozed off a couple times.
The only way I could recommend this movie is if you love low budget, highly dramatic, and boring films. This is not the best work of renowned director, Francis Ford Coppola and gets a dismal D--.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
Our ever loving Autobots are back and about to face the fight of their life against the Decepticans, and their ancient leader, The Fallen. In the first Transformers we saw the Allspark (that big ass cube) get destroyed, well a piece made it into the second movie and was used to get Megatron back into action. Of course he starts things up again and threatens Earth's humanity so Optimus Prime has ass kicking to do before The Fallen can blow up the sun and eliminate mankind.
Clocking in at 150 minutes this puppy packs a lot of special effects and some snoozing. Although the reviews have been relatively poor for this movie I thought it was pretty darn good and did I mention that the special effects were amazing? Director, Michael Bay, tried to write in A LOT of humor into this film and sometimes it worked but other times it was just annoying. There was a few times were I had to keep from falling asleep but overall this was a very good movie and even got an ovation from the audience at the end. Definately a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen but did have a few small problems so I rate this movie a solid B.
Clocking in at 150 minutes this puppy packs a lot of special effects and some snoozing. Although the reviews have been relatively poor for this movie I thought it was pretty darn good and did I mention that the special effects were amazing? Director, Michael Bay, tried to write in A LOT of humor into this film and sometimes it worked but other times it was just annoying. There was a few times were I had to keep from falling asleep but overall this was a very good movie and even got an ovation from the audience at the end. Definately a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen but did have a few small problems so I rate this movie a solid B.
The Proposal
The Proposal was 85 minutes worth of B+ grade material but then came last 20 minutes which was nothing but cheese. Here's the skinny; you got Sandra Bullock, a book editor and not to mention, raving bitch, who is about to be deported back to Canada because of an expired visa. Then walks in her ever witty assistant, Ryan Reynolds, who agrees to marry her just so she can stay in the country. But she must first meet his off the wall family in Alaska and at the same time convince the deportation officer that there relationship is not only legit but the marriage is truly authentic.
My favorite Golden Girl, Betty White, steals every scene she is in and Oscar Nunez, who plays Oscar in the The Office, grabs a few laughs as well. Ryan Reynolds is on his mark when injecting his sarcastic humor but is seemingly unconvincing during the more serious moments. The development between the main characters did not work at all which made the ending not only half-hearted but also very lame. For that reason I have to mark this film a C.
My favorite Golden Girl, Betty White, steals every scene she is in and Oscar Nunez, who plays Oscar in the The Office, grabs a few laughs as well. Ryan Reynolds is on his mark when injecting his sarcastic humor but is seemingly unconvincing during the more serious moments. The development between the main characters did not work at all which made the ending not only half-hearted but also very lame. For that reason I have to mark this film a C.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Taking of Pelham 123
If you love Denzel Washington, Tony Scott and trains then you'll love The Taking of Pelham 123. The director of Top Gun, Crimson Tide and Man on Fire bring us a Suspense/Drama which pit subway dispatcher, Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), against hijacker and savvy money man, Ryder (John Travolta). The Ransom? Of course, money...but not too much of it. A majority of the movie is quality dialogue between the two as time ticks down and lives start being taken. Even though the outcome can be predicted during the first 10 minutes, it plays out pretty well.
Any fan of Washington or Travolta will enjoy their performances and interaction but the overall movie fell short. If it were any two other actors then this would have been a disaster of a movie, so I give kudos to Tony Scott for his selections. With a weak ending and even weaker beginning, not to mention a predictable plot, I can not justify giving this movie a rating higher than a B-.
Any fan of Washington or Travolta will enjoy their performances and interaction but the overall movie fell short. If it were any two other actors then this would have been a disaster of a movie, so I give kudos to Tony Scott for his selections. With a weak ending and even weaker beginning, not to mention a predictable plot, I can not justify giving this movie a rating higher than a B-.
The Hangover
The Hangover was crass, raunchy, obscene and outrageous and I loved every second of it. Director, Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School), takes us to Las Vegas following 4 guys and a bachelor party gone completely wrong...with the help of a few rufies. Having lost the groom and no memory of the night before, Phil, Stu and Alan must work through the previous night's drunken mayhem to find Doug and get him to the alter before it's too late.
Bradley Cooper, known for his roles in Wedding Crashers and He's Just Not That in to You, gives the performance of his career and set the bar high for movies to come. Ed Helms (Stu), who best known for his comedic role as Andy in the sitcom "The Office" and relative new guy, Zach Galifianakis (Alan), steal every scene they are in.
I laughed for about half of the movie and laughed even harder the other half. With strong performances and character interaction between all the cast coupled with an even stronger script, this is a must see. I give this movie a very solid A.
Bradley Cooper, known for his roles in Wedding Crashers and He's Just Not That in to You, gives the performance of his career and set the bar high for movies to come. Ed Helms (Stu), who best known for his comedic role as Andy in the sitcom "The Office" and relative new guy, Zach Galifianakis (Alan), steal every scene they are in.
I laughed for about half of the movie and laughed even harder the other half. With strong performances and character interaction between all the cast coupled with an even stronger script, this is a must see. I give this movie a very solid A.
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