Mini Reviews

Every year, I try to watch as many film released within that year as possible, so that at the year's end I have as many films as possible for consideration onto my best and worst lists. So, I've been keeping up with films I missed at the theater or that went straight to DVD through Netflix. Here are some mini reviews for those films.

Being Flynn
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Paul Dano, Olivia Thirlby
Plot: A wannabe writer discovers his deadbeat dad is sort of a loser despite the fact that he claims to be the greatest living American writer.
Thoughts: Solid acting from Dano and DeNiro can't save this cheesy, melodramatic, boring mess of a movie.
Grade: C+

Friends With Kids
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolf, Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd, Ed Burns, Megan Fox
Plot: A woman in her upper 30s and her longtime best friend decide to avoid the pratfalls of their friends who got married and had kids and just stay friends and have a kid.
Thoughts: The first two thirds of this movie are an absolute joy. The cast is fantastic and it's genuinely touching and funny and well-written. However, a cliched third act threatens to ruin everything.
Grade: B-

Hick
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, Juliette Lewis, Rory Culkin
Plot: A young girl realizes she's had enough of her hick family and decideds to run away to Vegas where she plans on finding a rich man. She meets some shady people along the way.
Thoughts: A super mess of a movie, although Moretz is great. But even Juliette Lewis (who really isn't in enough movies these days) and Rory Culkin (the best Culkin!) can't save this mess.
Grade: D+

Innkeepers
Starring: Sara Paxton
Plot: On the last weekend run for a Bed and Breakfast, two co-workers decide to investigate the fact that the place may haunted.
Thoughts: A fairly effective, yet predictable, ghost story. The moments of boredom and the overall lameness is nearly saved by a really great ending.
Grade: C+

Lockout
Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace
Plot: In the near future, there is a maximum security prison floating in space. The president's daughter (Grace) happens to be there when a riot breaks out. A conman (Pearce) is sent in to save the day.
Thoughts: Super cliched in just about every way, but also not such a bad way to spend a mindless summer night. Pearce is the saving grace as a smart ass anti-hero.
Grade: C-

Project X
Plot: High schoolers throw the most epic party ever.
Thoughts: It wants to be Superbad or The Hangover, but it's not nearly funny enough to be either. It tries its best to be shocking but that's not enough.
Grade: D+

The Woman in Black
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe
Plot: A young man goes to the English countryside to investigate the death of a woman.
Thoughts: Totally boring and cliched up until about the last 5 minutes when it finally got compelling, but too little too late.
Grade: D

No Strings Attached (DVD)

There is a major problem with No Strings Attached. The movie presents itself as a smart, funny, rauncy, romantic comedy. The problem? Well, it's just not funny. That's not to say it's bad, per se. Because it's not. If you go into it expecting a cliche romance with a pretty stellar cast then you probably won't be disappointed. It's not bad, just not necessarily good either. It's just sort of average in every way.

Recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman stars as Emma, a young woman who is really good at being alone. She's currently doing her residency in order to become a doctor so she has very little time to date. Plus, she doesn't really like relationships anyway. Enter Adam (Ashton Kutcher). The two originally meet at a summer camp when they are 14. Their lives intersect a few times before they decide to be friends with benefits (ironically the name of a movie with this exact same plot that will be out in a few months starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake). They set a series of ground rules, such as no cuddling, no listing each other as an emergency contact, etc. If you have ever, ever, ever seen a romantic "comedy" in your entire life, then I'm sure you can see where this one is going. They fall in love! But Emma is such an emotional wreck, she completely messes it up! But, don't fret, they work things out and live happily ever after!

The cast is what makes this movie worth it. Portman is way better than she has to be in a lame romance movie. Kutcher is likeable and charming. The supporting cast is ridiculously talented (probably too talented to be in a movie like this). Mindy Kaling (the best thing about The Office), Chelsea Handler regular Guy Branum and Greta Gerwig star as Emma's fantastic best friends, friends who you'd like to have as your own. Olivia Thirlby (who I love to death) is Emma's sister, but is all but wasted in her role. Ludacris and Jake Johnson are Adam's best friends, the ones who actually get all two or three of the funny lines in the movie. Lake Bell is his neurotic co-worker who has a massive crush on him. Then there is Kevin Kline who stars as his fading movie star dad who has begun to date his ex-girlfriend Vanesa (Ophelia Lovibond).

The best part of the movie is probably the 30 second clip of a bluegrass band covering the song "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. More of that, please! The direction is fine and the script is ok as well. I mean, it's a well written, smart movie... it's just not funny at all. And when you are presenting your movie as a romantic COMEDY, it should probably be funny. Instead, No Strings Attached is just a cute cliche. Thank goodness the movie is rated R because at least it gets to be a little raunchy. If it was PG-13, it probably would have been nearly unwatchable. The movie is about casual, no strings attached sex and on that front, it works well. I think it presents the sitation as realistically as possible. So, all in all, the movie is cute and the characters are likeable. It's not a bad movie, just predictable in every single way. And it completely fails in what it sets out to do, which is be funny.

Grade: C

Mini Reviews...

Lakeview Terrace - Not exactly a bad movie, perse, just terribly trite and unoriginal. It's more a think piece about interracial relationships than a thriller about clashing neighbors. And, really, it just seems out of place in 2008. I mean, I know people are still prejudiced but do they really take it to this extreme? I find it hard to believe. It was probably the second most fun bad movie of the year (after Mamma Mia, of course). It was entertaining, if nothing else. And, you know, Patrick Wilson is so very nice to look at.
Grade: C-

My Best Friend's Girl - What the hell happened to Kate Hudson? I remember the days when she made good movies like 200 Cigarettes and Desert Blue and, you know, Almost Famous. Now she's trying too hard to be the romantic lead. She is charming as hell and it's hard not to like her but she's letting her talent go to waste with terrible scripts like this. I think there were about three times I laughed. Dane Cook is not funny. Jason Biggs is not... anything. Alec Baldwin was the saving grace of this disaster.
Grade: D+

Burn After Reading - Near the end of the film, J.K. Simmons tells a lackey, "Report back to me when this all makes sense." That's sort of how I felt as well. Lucky for the Coen Brothers (and their wonderfully outrageous cast), I like movies that are confusing and silly and often don't make much sense. John Malkovich is amazing in his role as a CIA agent who quits his job, writes his memoirs and has a sort of nervous breakdown. My favorite moment of the film is him walking off a boat wearing a robe and carrying an axe. John Malkovich is right up there with Eric Roberts as one of the coolest guys in the whole world. Brad Pitt is hilarious. I often dislike Pitt in films (because I dislike him in real life) but he was actually fun to watch here. George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand (worst. hair. ever.) and Richard Jenkins round out a really great cast who made an enjoyable, funny, entertaining film.
Grade: B+

The Life Before Her Eyes - Melodramatic to say the least. Almost unbearable to watch.
Grade: D-

Snow Angels - What a beautifully tragic desperate and ultimately devastating film. Director David Gordon Green has sure shown his versatatily this year. First he makes this tragic depressing little film (which released in February) and then he follows it up with one of the funniest movies of the summer (Pineapple Express). I don't want to tell you too much plot because it's really worth watching. There are a lot of twists and a lot of really great linear storytelling. The cast is phenomenal. The ladies - Kate Beckinsale (she can act!), Olivia Thirlby and Amy Sedaris - are just fine but it's the men - Sam Rockwell and Michael Angarano - who steal the show. Rockwell will break your heart.
Grade: B+

Married Life - Not necessarily bad. Anything starring Patricia Clarkson is automatically "not bad" in my book. Still, it's boring as hell. I didn't care about any of these characters or any of the ways they slept with each other. If it wasn't for Patricia, I don't think I could have even finished it. Maybe it's my hatred for Rachel McAdams. Maybe it was the lousy script. Who knows.
Grade: D+