Movie Diary
a) Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
My wife got really upset the first time she saw the ad for this movie with the girl pulling up the sheets of her bed and seeing a monster. So when we got to go out to a movie recently and had someone to watch the baby, she wanted to see this, naturally, because she loves scary movies and she loves Guillermo del Toro. Overall I thought it was pretty well done, more spooky than scary and I actually didn't hate Katie Homes in it. Was not wild about the creature design of the little beasties, though.
b) Catfish
I can see both why this documentary (or faux doc or whatever it really was) generated a fair amount of excitement and why it had its share of detractors. Overall I thought it was compelling and annoying in equal measure, but annoying doesn't ever really mean less compelling, although it was traveling on such well trodden ground that I don't really feel like I got anything out of it that'll stick with me.
c) How Do You Know
The box office for this movie affirms the feeling that I am probably one of the only people in the world who sees that there's a James L. Brooks movie starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson and thinks "sign me up." But really, I did like this, for all its low key charm and somewhat failed designs on being something more than it was. Good cast, everyone got to play to their strengths.
d) The Town
I kind of rolled my eyes at the very existence of this movie, but in practice it wasn't too bad, although Jeremy Renner is one of those guys I just don't really care to see in anything ever.
e) Megamind
Being another 2010 computer animated movie about the redemption of a super villain voiced by a comedy A-lister really makes this feel like the Deep Impact to Despicable Me's Armageddon. And by that token, this fails at capturing Will Ferrell's sense of humor or using his voice well the way Despicable did with Steve Carrell. But it's definitely a pretty different story and is often pretty entertaining, if not especially funny (oddly enough, Guillermo del Toro is credited as a 'creative consultant').
f) Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
I always enjoy seeing Andy Serkis in a normal role (i.e. non-motion capture CGI role a la Gollum), and this movie in particular is just a really great star vehicle for him. I'm generally kind of allergic to rock biopics, but I think a lot of that is because usually I'm too aware of every level on which they fudge the history or the musical accuracy, and in this case my familiarity with Ian Dury is too basic for me to get all pedantic, so I was just able to enjoy the giddy frantic direction and performances for what they are.
g) You Again
The relative dearth of female comedies makes people all the more grateful for occasional hits like Bridesmaids; a movie like You Again, which features Kristen Bell and Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis and Betty White and Kristen Chenoweth, almost all of which billed above any male cast member, should ideally be in the same company. It doesn't quite hit the mark, but it's better than you probably think it is.
h) Machete
There's something adorably sad about Lindsay Lohan already becoming camp fodder along with Steven Seagal and Don Johnson in this Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse trailer-turned-spinoff. This had some fun moments but probably not as many as it was going for.
i) How To Train Your Dragon
This really seems like one of the more well-regarded non-Pixar computer animation flicks of the past few years, and I don't really get it. It was a nice story, and I thought the look of the movie was cute, but yeah, I dunno, felt kind of middle of the road to me.
j) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
I don't know how I ended up throwing away an afternoon watching this.
k) Group Sex
I know how I ended up throwing away an afternoon watching this, but seriously, as sex comedies go it was neither sexy nor funny.
l) The Break-Up Artist
Another really cheesy low-budget relationship comedy that I rolled the dice on and lost.
m) Flashbacks of a Fool
Kind of a dreary and maudlin Daniel Craig movie where the younger actor who plays character as a teenager gets more screentime that Craig himself. Not bad but just kind of a downer.
n) The Life Before Her Eyes
God I just hated this movie, even though I should have seen the stupid 'twist' coming given the title, I can't believe I watched it all the way to the end, just offensively pointless and stupid.
o) Spiral
A psychodrama starring the guy from Avatar who looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, which is exactly as goofy and lightweight as it sounds.
p) Color Me Kubrick
I like seeing Malkovich have a bit of fun and the fact that this was based on a true story makes it all the more creepy and weird and entertaining, but the movie somehow ended up as less than the sum of its parts.
q) School of Life
You know who doesn't get enough good roles? David Paymer. That guy's all class. I'll even watch him opposite Ryan Reynolds in some touchy-feely direct-to-DVD business just to see him co-headline a movie.
r) Layer Cake
The Daniel Craig movie that supposedly got him the Bond job, really pretty great, although perhaps I'm just grateful for any British crime movie that in no way resembles the work of Guy Ritchie.
s) Larger Than Life
If Groundhog Day represents the last great work of Bill Murray's leading man period and Rushmore marks the beginning of his current period as a beloved aging icon, there are about 5 years in between when the world didn't much know what to do with him. And yet he did some good work there, if nothing especially great: fine work in Kingpin, the surprisingly decent The Man Who knew Too Little, amusing small roles in a truly strange trifecta of films (Ed Wood, Space Jam and Wild Things), and I'm guessing at some point I should see Mad Dog And Glory. But one movie I assumed I'd never be compelled to bother with was the one where he inherits an elephant. And then I was recently reading the entertaining book Alphabetter Juice and the author, Roy Blount, Jr., mentioned that he wrote the screenplay and I thought oh, well, maybe I'll give it a shot.
t) Less Than Zero
I always heard this kind of referred to as a bratpack movie, but I guess it's a Bret Easton Ellis adaptation and man does it suck.
My wife got really upset the first time she saw the ad for this movie with the girl pulling up the sheets of her bed and seeing a monster. So when we got to go out to a movie recently and had someone to watch the baby, she wanted to see this, naturally, because she loves scary movies and she loves Guillermo del Toro. Overall I thought it was pretty well done, more spooky than scary and I actually didn't hate Katie Homes in it. Was not wild about the creature design of the little beasties, though.
b) Catfish
I can see both why this documentary (or faux doc or whatever it really was) generated a fair amount of excitement and why it had its share of detractors. Overall I thought it was compelling and annoying in equal measure, but annoying doesn't ever really mean less compelling, although it was traveling on such well trodden ground that I don't really feel like I got anything out of it that'll stick with me.
c) How Do You Know
The box office for this movie affirms the feeling that I am probably one of the only people in the world who sees that there's a James L. Brooks movie starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson and thinks "sign me up." But really, I did like this, for all its low key charm and somewhat failed designs on being something more than it was. Good cast, everyone got to play to their strengths.
d) The Town
I kind of rolled my eyes at the very existence of this movie, but in practice it wasn't too bad, although Jeremy Renner is one of those guys I just don't really care to see in anything ever.
e) Megamind
Being another 2010 computer animated movie about the redemption of a super villain voiced by a comedy A-lister really makes this feel like the Deep Impact to Despicable Me's Armageddon. And by that token, this fails at capturing Will Ferrell's sense of humor or using his voice well the way Despicable did with Steve Carrell. But it's definitely a pretty different story and is often pretty entertaining, if not especially funny (oddly enough, Guillermo del Toro is credited as a 'creative consultant').
f) Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
I always enjoy seeing Andy Serkis in a normal role (i.e. non-motion capture CGI role a la Gollum), and this movie in particular is just a really great star vehicle for him. I'm generally kind of allergic to rock biopics, but I think a lot of that is because usually I'm too aware of every level on which they fudge the history or the musical accuracy, and in this case my familiarity with Ian Dury is too basic for me to get all pedantic, so I was just able to enjoy the giddy frantic direction and performances for what they are.
g) You Again
The relative dearth of female comedies makes people all the more grateful for occasional hits like Bridesmaids; a movie like You Again, which features Kristen Bell and Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis and Betty White and Kristen Chenoweth, almost all of which billed above any male cast member, should ideally be in the same company. It doesn't quite hit the mark, but it's better than you probably think it is.
h) Machete
There's something adorably sad about Lindsay Lohan already becoming camp fodder along with Steven Seagal and Don Johnson in this Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse trailer-turned-spinoff. This had some fun moments but probably not as many as it was going for.
i) How To Train Your Dragon
This really seems like one of the more well-regarded non-Pixar computer animation flicks of the past few years, and I don't really get it. It was a nice story, and I thought the look of the movie was cute, but yeah, I dunno, felt kind of middle of the road to me.
j) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
I don't know how I ended up throwing away an afternoon watching this.
k) Group Sex
I know how I ended up throwing away an afternoon watching this, but seriously, as sex comedies go it was neither sexy nor funny.
l) The Break-Up Artist
Another really cheesy low-budget relationship comedy that I rolled the dice on and lost.
m) Flashbacks of a Fool
Kind of a dreary and maudlin Daniel Craig movie where the younger actor who plays character as a teenager gets more screentime that Craig himself. Not bad but just kind of a downer.
n) The Life Before Her Eyes
God I just hated this movie, even though I should have seen the stupid 'twist' coming given the title, I can't believe I watched it all the way to the end, just offensively pointless and stupid.
o) Spiral
A psychodrama starring the guy from Avatar who looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, which is exactly as goofy and lightweight as it sounds.
p) Color Me Kubrick
I like seeing Malkovich have a bit of fun and the fact that this was based on a true story makes it all the more creepy and weird and entertaining, but the movie somehow ended up as less than the sum of its parts.
q) School of Life
You know who doesn't get enough good roles? David Paymer. That guy's all class. I'll even watch him opposite Ryan Reynolds in some touchy-feely direct-to-DVD business just to see him co-headline a movie.
r) Layer Cake
The Daniel Craig movie that supposedly got him the Bond job, really pretty great, although perhaps I'm just grateful for any British crime movie that in no way resembles the work of Guy Ritchie.
s) Larger Than Life
If Groundhog Day represents the last great work of Bill Murray's leading man period and Rushmore marks the beginning of his current period as a beloved aging icon, there are about 5 years in between when the world didn't much know what to do with him. And yet he did some good work there, if nothing especially great: fine work in Kingpin, the surprisingly decent The Man Who knew Too Little, amusing small roles in a truly strange trifecta of films (Ed Wood, Space Jam and Wild Things), and I'm guessing at some point I should see Mad Dog And Glory. But one movie I assumed I'd never be compelled to bother with was the one where he inherits an elephant. And then I was recently reading the entertaining book Alphabetter Juice and the author, Roy Blount, Jr., mentioned that he wrote the screenplay and I thought oh, well, maybe I'll give it a shot.
t) Less Than Zero
I always heard this kind of referred to as a bratpack movie, but I guess it's a Bret Easton Ellis adaptation and man does it suck.
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on Thursday, September 08, 2011 at 10:23 PM.
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