The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

The fact that Mockingjay is not a great movie is not it's fault. It suffers from following Catching Fire, easily the best installment of the franchise, and from being the boring first half of an epic finale. It's all reestablishing old characters and relationships and meeting new characters and reminding people what has already happened and laying the ground work for what is to come. It has no beginning, middle or end. It is not a stand alone film, not really. So it's not Mockingjay's fault that it is so mediocre.

At the end of Catching Fire, our heroine Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) shot an arrow into the dome at the Quarter Quell. She was rescued by the rebel forces of District 13. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was captured by the Capitol and evil President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Mockingjay opens with Katniss living in the underground bunkers of District 13, where she is joined by her mom and sister, as well as Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Plutarch (the late, great, dearly missed Philip Seymour Hoffman), Haymitch (scene stealer Woody Harrelson), Effie (Elizabeth Banks, devoid of fab wardrobe), Finnick (Sam Claflin) and District 13 president Coin (Julianne Moore).  After Katniss' seemingly rebellious move, the districts started a bit of a rebellion so now the think tank in District 13 decide to push it into an all out war, using Katniss as the face of the war. Meanwhile, the Capitol is forcing Peeta to speak it against the war and Katniss. And... honestly? That's pretty much all that happens during what seems like a very long 2 hours.  I may be in the minority here but I would prefer a really good 3 hour movie rather than 2 mediocre 2 hour movies.

Not much really happens in the movie although there are a few nice moments (Katniss singing a haunting song on an expedition to her destroyed District), an exciting action sequence (an intense visit to District 8; easily the best scene in the whole movie), and even some bad ass fashion statements (Natalie Dormer and her cool as hell half shaved head (and, yes, now I want to half shave MY head)). But mostly Mockingjay is boring. But it's not it's fault! The cast all shows up to play. Lawrence is actually one of the weakest links here, getting out shone by scene stealers Harrelson and Banks, and out acted by consummate pros like Moore and Hoffman.  (Aside: Just seeing Hoffman on screen is hard knowing it's one of his last on screen appearances. His death was devastating. What a talent! Even in a mostly wasted supporting role in a mediocre movie. His talent was tremendous). The movie looks good and it's solid visually. And if I though about ways to change it to make it better, I can't really come up with anything save cut it and make one final film instead of Part 1 and 2. And that's not going to happen. Two parts will make twice as much money. Hollywood execs aren't stupid.

So Mockingjay is a mostly boring ride. Again, not it's fault. Once it starts to pick up steam, it's over, and lives us only anticipating next year's finale. What a tease!

Grade: C 

Out of the Furnace

First things first: Scott Cooper directs the hell out of this movie. From the very first, perfectly framed shot (a fist fight that erupts at a drive in movie theater) through all the smoke stacks, right up until the second to the last shot (because that last shot... ugh! More on that later), this movie is directed so perfectly. Even if this movie turned out to be lousy, at least it would be pretty enough to be worth watching. Fortunately, it's not lousy. I wouldn't necessarily say its as great as I was hoping either, but it's far from lousy. It's yet another example this year of a movie that is sort of conventional but with great directing and acting, it appears far better than it really is. The best thing I can say about the film, script wise, is that it isn't predictable. I watch a lot of movies, and I feel like, most of the time, I know exactly what is going to happen the entire time before the movie even starts. That isn't the case with Out of the Furnace. There are quite a few instances where I thought I had things figured out, only to be surprised by what happens next. And, at the very, very least, that's something.
Out of the Furnace stars Christian Bale as Russell Baze, a good man who works at a mill in a small, Pennsylvania town. He has a pretty girlfriend (Zoe Saldana), a dying father, and a vet brother (Casey Affleck). Affleck's Rodney is the opposite of his brother. Sure, he's a good kid, too, but where Russell is all quiet and subdued, Rodney is a live-wire. He's tough and angry, ready to blow up at any second. Rodney finds himself mixed up with a redneck meth-head drug dealer (Woody Harrelson) and when he goes missing, Russell plans to track him down no matter what, and no matter who stands in his way.
At its worst, Out of the Furnace is a conventional, character piece, a movie that chooses character development over plot and story, and a movie with a snail's pace. At its best, however, it's a bleak, desolate tale of family love and hopelessness filmed so expertly that some of the shots literally take your breath away. It may be conventional, but it sure as hell is solid, as well. Part of that is due to Cooper, as I've already said, but a large part is due to the acting as well. Obviously, Christian Bale is one of our finest actors and he does so much with the quiet and controlled Russell. He may not have the showy scenes that his co-stars get, but he carries this movie with his eyes, and all the things he doesn't say. This movie, however, belongs to two absolutely monstrous supporting turns. Affleck, who I think is one of the most underrated actors out there, is absolutely superb, giving his best performance in, maybe, ever. There is one scene in particular, in which he finally explodes, that is brilliant, and left my heart pounding. But it's Harrelson that steals the show. His drug dealer, meth head is like a caged animal, pacing its cage, waiting to break free and kill its prey. Every moment he is on screen is electrifying. And where he has the ability to go over the top with this role, he never does. His best moment is one of his final moments, in which he finds out that Russell is Rodney's brother and gives a small smirk and nod of the head, like he knows exactly what is coming for him.
So, yes, Out of the Furnace is good, but it's not great. And I have decided to dock it an entire grade because of the terrible final shot of the film. Its a moment that pretty much makes no sense, and makes you question everything that has happened leading up to it. There are a lot of instances where the final shot almost ruins a movie for me. To this day, whenever I watch The Departed, I have to turn it off before that final heavy-handed shot with the rat. That movie is perfect save for that one moment. That's how I feel about Out of the Furnace, except the movie is far from perfect. It's definitely worth checking out at some point, but there's no rush. There will be plenty of other, better movies in the next few weeks.
Grade: B-

Friday Top Five: The Cast of Out of the Furnace

I'm going to do something a little different this week, and instead of focusing on one individual actor, I'm going to focus on the entire cast of Out of the Furnace, a movie that opens today that I am pretty excited about. It stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, and Woody Harrelson, to name a few, three actors whom I absolutely love. So, here are the best films starring this cast:

05. Gerry (Gus Van Sant, 2002)
All right, this movie is most definitely NOT for everyone. Considered part of Van Sant's "Death Trilogy" (along with two other movies that I love that aren't for everyone: Elephant and Last Days), the film follows to friends (Affleck and Matt Damon) who get lost in the desert and have no food or water. It's not really about anything and nothing ever really happens. There is barely any dialogue, but if you love filmmaking, existential journeys and great acting, than Gerry just might be for you.

04. Crazy Heart (Scott Cooper, 2009)
Scott Cooper isn't IN Out of the Furnace, but he did direct it, as his follow up to Crazy Heart, which stars Jeff Bridges as a washed up country star. When you watch Crazy Heart and see all the beautiful panoramic shots then you'll know instantly what Cooper is capable of. Not to mention, he pulls Oscar worthy performances from Bridges, and co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal. I'm excited to see what he's done with the incredible cast of Out of the Furnace.

03. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
This breathtakingly beautiful film stars two cast members from Out of the Furnace - Sam Shepard and Casey Affleck, who is absolutely riveting in this film. Yes, Brad Pitt stars as Jesse James, but this movie is about Robert Ford, and Affleck, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, should have been recognized as the Lead. Sometimes people wonder why I love long movies, this one clocks in at nearly three hours, but when you are constantly engrossed with such beautiful imagery and amazing performances, how could you not love long movies?

02. Rampart (Oren Moverman, 2011)
Honestly? I think Woody Harrelson is unbelievably sexy. I also think he doesn't get enough credit for what a great actor he truly is. Maybe it's because he mixes things up and does a lot of comedy, starring in waste of time movies like that one where he was a surfer who smoked a lot of weed (also known as: his life, probably). But, when he does a dramatic role, he always nails it and Rampart is absolutely no exception. He stars as a dirty cop, who also happens to be about as disgusting a man as you can imagine. He's sexist, racist, homophobic, and just plain vile. The fact that Harrelson embodies this man with such ease says a lot for his formidable talents as an actor. I'm excited to see him play the bad guy in Out of the Furnace.

01. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
How could it be anything else? How can any list including Christian Bale not include this? I consider The Dark Knight to be the single greatest comic book / superhero movie of all time. There is none better. I'm not sure there ever will be. Sure, I've grown up loving Batman for as long as I can remember. But I'm not playing favorites here. Nolan's middle entry into his Batman trilogy is everything you can ever want from an action movie - destruction, chaos, brilliant set pieces, bank robberies, piles of cash, pretty girls, hundreds of mobsters, and a villain who gives such a staggering, anarchy filled performance so good that it breaks your heart to think Heath Ledger is gone for good. Bale plays a damn good Bruce Wayne, charming and cocky, and his Batman is genius as well (I can ignore THAT VOICE, unlike most of America). Bale is one of our best actors, and I'm excited to see what he'll bring to Out of the Furnace. Barring any sort of weekend disaster, I'll let you know how it all shakes out on Monday.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The best thing the Hunger Games movies could have done is getting such wonderful character actors to play pivotal supporting roles. It adds an air of importance to your film when you have such heavy-weights as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci and Jeffrey Wright playing your small, but important characters. And, of course, The Hunger Games struck gold when it cast Jennifer Lawrence as lead Katniss. Lawrence may be the most famous and coolest girl on the planet right now, and she's got all the talent to back it up.

Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games left off - Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) managed to win the Hunger Games by claiming to be in love although vicious President Snow (Sutherland) doesn't buy it for a minute. The two are about to embark on a victory tour of the districts and President Snow threatens Katniss, telling her she must prove their love to everyone or the people will continue to believe their joint win was an act of defiance and revolt. Of course, they somehow make the stirring revolution grow strong and soon President Snow and games-maker Plutarch (Hoffman)are crafting something special for the games Quarter Quell - a champions round, where all the participants are past winners, meaning, they are all proven killers and it will be even harder for Katniss and Peeta to make it out alive this time around. Among the new / old contestants are scene-stealers Jena Malone as ax-wielding wild child Johanna and Sam Claflin as charming, handsome, complicated Finnick. [Side Note: Why do characters in YA novels/movies have such weird names??]

Good news first: Once the movie gets to the actual games, it is fast-paced, action packed, intense and just plain fun. Bad news? It takes about an hour and a half to get there. That's an hour and a half of talking and scheming and plotting and lying, all while anticipating that awesome clock inspired Quarter Quell. Yes, the first half of the movie is sort of on the boring side. Yes, it could have been edited down greatly and still been effective. Yes, Effie's (Elisabeth Banks) AMAZING outfits nearly make up for the whole thing. But Catching Fire is a mostly good movie. Director Francis Lawrence took over directing duties this time around and ha managed to make a more clear, more straight-forward, more effective film. Of course, the movie suffers from the same thing that book suffered from - being the middle book of a trilogy and that's rarely ever a good thing, although its also not its fault. It's tasked with introducing new characters and new ideas, but never really going anywhere with anything (because, you know, there's a third book to tie everything together - this is just a placeholder). And that's not a bad thing, but it's also not necessarily a good thing either, especially that awful cliff-hanger ending. But again, not the movies fault in the least.

Mostly Catching Fire is a successful film. My own personal problem has to deal with recently reading Divergent, a book with a main female character who is both bad ass and complicated. She also is far from likable and manages to get her hands dirty a whole lot, which makes her journey more compelling. Katniss doesn't ever really get her hands dirty. Sure, she talks the talk, but she has other people who manage to save her from getting too involved in things like killing other people. She's a nice clean-cut hero for girls to look up to, someone strong but who never actually does anything too bad. Still, she's a way better role model for girls these days than Bella from Twilight, so I guess that's progress.

Grade: B

Friday Top Five - Zombie Movies!

Last week, I counted down my Top Five Superhero Movies in honor of the very bland and disappointing (read: BAD) Man of Steel. This week, in honor of World War Z (which I'm super psyched about and hope it doesn't disappoint me), I'm counting down my Top Five Zombie Movies.

5. Planet Terror (2007, Robert Rodriguez)
Planet Terror was the first half of 2007's badass awesome Grindhouse (the second half was Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, also great, in a different way). Technically, it is a zombie movie but I forgive you for forgetting that. You may have been distracted by Marley Shelton's needle wheeling nurse. Or Freddie Rodriguez's bad ass, kick ass character. Or, more likely, Rose McGowan's stripper turned one legged victim turned hero with a machine gun leg. Planet Terror is over the top, for sure, but all Rodriguez movies are and that's what makes them so damn fun.

4. Dawn of the Dead (2004, Zack Snyder)
I'm no fan of Zack Snyder's. To me, he is too manic, too style over substance, too visual without regard for plot. His other movies (including Watchmen, 300, Sucker Punch and last week's hot mess Man of Steel) have all disappointed me or angered me in various ways. But his remake of Dawn of the Dead is the best thing he's ever done. He manages to capture the intensity of a zombie attack and still make us care about these character stuck inside a mall fighting for their lives. It's the first time his style worked perfectly with the movie he was trying to make and Dawn of the Dead manages to be even better than the original, which doesn't happen very often. Perhaps it's that whole sequence with the pregnant lady turned zombie giving birth to a zombie baby that has something to do with it.

3. Zombieland (2009, Ruben Fleischer)
Zombieland proved you can make a funny zombie movie successfully (although I hear Amazon's attempt at making a TV version of this movie failed miserably). Perhaps it was the absolute perfect cast: ultimate badass Woody Harrelson paired with two of the hottest up and comers at the time: Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg. Or maybe it was the pitch perfect script that managed to mix laughs and wit with seering action and great zombie kills. Or it also could have been that extended Bill Murray cameo which would probably top the list if I made a best cameo Top Five list.

2. 28 Days Later (2002, Danny Boyle)
The Walking Dead sort of ripped off the beginning of this film: Cillian Murphy's character awakes in a hospital, seemingly alone, unaware that the end of the world has taken place while he lay inside. It's a great premise and Boyle at his absolute finest nails the empathy and emptiness of this post-zombie attack scene. I haven't seen this movie in quite a few years and it's not as fresh in my memory as I would like, but just making this list makes me want to Netflix it and relive how I felt while watching it the first time- which was utterly devastated. Plus, you can't top that heartbreaking ending.

1. Night of the Living Dead (1968, George Romero)
You just can't top the classic. Without Romero's quintessential iconic zombie movie, we would never have had any of these other zombie movies. As far as movie making is concerned, Romero invented zombies. He certainly changed the landscapes of horror movies in particular, and movies in general, when he released his black and white opus, with (GASP!) a black man as THE hero! That, along with just about everything else Romero did in this film, was utterly unheard of in 1968. This man is an icon of horror film for a reason.

Mini Reviews (I'm Back)

In case anyone actually reads this, I apologize for my recent absence but things have been sort of crazy at work. Right now, I am going to write a few mini reviews to get caught up on the things I've seen recently (two movies in theaters you might want to check out and two on DVD that you will probably want to avoid), but then I am going to get back to updating this blog more frequently. I also have a few ideas for new funs things to do (i.e. a weekly Friday Top Five list related to new releases or actor birthdays and maybe a Best Director tournament!). But for now, here are quick thoughts on four 2013 releases (from best to worst):

The Internship
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Max Minghella
Plot: Two salesmen lose their jobs and decide that despite any skill whatsoever that they are going to get a job at Google. The movie follows a summer long internship program.
Thoughts: Despite being way too long and following all the rules of romantic comedy, The Internship manages to be cute, sweet and funny. The best part about it is, of course, Vaughn and Wilson and their perfect chemistry that also worked so well in Wedding Crashers. But the real star of the show is the Google campus which is fascinating and interesting in every sense of the word.
Grade: B-

Now You See Me
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent
Plot: Four street magicians come together thanks to a mysterious but powerful benefactor to become the most successful magicians with a traveling show where they manage to do completely unbelievable tricks (such as stealing money from a Paris bank while in Vegas). The FBI is hot on their tail though.
Thoughts: Now You See Me benefits from having an almost unrelentless pace, which absolutely works in its favor because if you were given time to stop and think about the whole thing, you would realize how none of it (especially the far fetched, ridiculous ending) makes sense. Still, as far as fun, thoughtless entertainment goes, this is decent.
Grade: C+

Dark Skies
Starring: Keri Russell, J.K. Simmons
Plot: Aliens target a family and slowly drive them crazy.
Thoughts: Cliche, but also really terrible. Simmons is the only - THE ONLY - good thing about it and he's only in it for about 3 minutes.
Grade: D+

Stand Up Guys
Starring: Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin
Plot: Val (Pacino) is newly released from prison but some powerful people are holding a 28 year grudge and send his bestie (Walken) to give him the night of his life and then kill him.
Thoughts: Remember when Pacino was one of the greatest actors of all time? That whole thing is pretty foggy to me. The more he makes crap like this, the easier it is to forget he was ever even in The Godfather. The end of this movie is actually pretty bad ass, but it's a shame you have to sit through an hour and a half of crap to get to 45 seconds of coolness. On the plus side? It's not as bad as Lords of Salem!
Grade: D-

The Hunger Games

I am an unabashed lover of the Hunger Games trilogy. At first I felt a little bad about it. You know, with all of those inevitable comparisons to Twilight and everything. [Side Note: Twilight and The Hunger Games have absolutely NOTHING in common. One is a story about life or death, survival and love of family while the other is about a boring pale girl who has to choose between a whiny werewolf and an even whinier vampire.] But, the more I became immersed in The Hunger Games, the less I felt bad about it. The heroine of these books is an actual good role model for teen girls. She's a strong, kick ass teenager who will do anything to help her family survive.

First some quick background in case you are one of the 10 people in the entire world (all whom I presumably work with) who didn't read or even hear of the books. The Hunger Games takes place in the future, after a long and bloody war when the states are no longer and the country of Panem is divided into Districts. In order to keep a rebellion in check, the Capitol stages a yearly game in which a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district must compete in a live televised fight to the death. Our heroine Katniss (a superb Jennifer Lawrence) is from District 12 and when her 12 year old sister Prim is chosen, Katniss volunteers in her place. So, Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) go to the Capitol in order to prepare and compete in the 74th Annual Games. They are joined by their mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), the only person ever from District 12 to previously win, Effie (Elizabeth Banks), a sort of guardian and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), Katniss' personal stylist. Once inside the Arena, they must fight a host of other Tributes including the sweet and smart Rue, who Katniss befriends, and the deadly Careers, including Cato, who is ultimately the villain of the story.

Overall, I have to say that I loved the movie nearly as much as I loved the book. Movies are never, ever as good as the books, but this one was pretty damn close. There is so little for me to complain about, that it almost feels nitpicky to even try. The only main concern I had was with the breakdown of the film. It's two and a half hours long and it absolutely needs to be that long. But the beginning of the film takes a lot of time to show all the details (which is great) and then once inside the Arena, the movie sort of speeds through a lot of information, leaving out little details that seemed important while reading the book, like Katniss' initial dehydration and struggle for survival.

But the movie does a lot of things better, too. I loved that the Mockingjay pin wasn't from a school friend of Katniss' but instead passed back and forth between the Katniss and Prim, in order to show how strong their bond is. I also loved the sort of behind the scenes vibe that we got with the announcers (Stanley Tucci) and Gamemakers (headed by Wes Bentley, with bad ass facial hair). I also loved the scenes outside of the Arena with Bentley's Seneca Crane and Donald Sutherland's President Snow. Also, the juxtaposition between the dark and deadly Games and the bright and colorful reality spectacle of the whole thing really worked.

The performances were all fantastic with Lawrence and Harrelson stealing best in show. Hutcherson, who I thought was terribly miscast as Peeta, was actually pretty right on. Although, another thing I disliked about the film was the way they down played the fact that he was very strategic and kind of cunning. They played him as just a nice guy. Liam Hemsworth was barely in it, but his story line really expands in Catching Fire. Banks, Tucci, Sutherland, Bentley, and Kravitz were all perfectly cast and did great jobs. This was a fantastic adaptation of a fantastic book and I can't imagine any fans of the book being let down.

Grade: B+

Friends With Benefits / Cedar Rapids

Friends With Benefits - Yes, Friends With Benefits is pretty much the same movie as No Strings Attached that was released earlier this year. And while, No Strings Attached had a better lead actress (Natalie Portman), somehow Friends With Benefits manages to be a better movie. Is it because of director Will Gluck, who also managed to strike gold with last years infinitely better Easy A? Is it because of the killer supporting cast that bring their A-game (Goddess of the world Patricia Clarkson, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins, my girl crush Emma Stone)? Who knows, but Friends With Benefits wins the war over better comedy about besties who have sex and ultimately fall in love. In this version, Mila Kunis stars as Jamie, an executive who sets out to lure Justin Timberlake's Dylan away from his blog with indie cred and into a high profile job at GQ. In the process, they become best friends and since both of them recently had their hearts broken (by Andy Samberg and a HILARIOUS Stone, respectively) they eventually decide they should have sex without feelings. It works for a while. Then Jamie breaks things off so she can date for real. She falls for Bryan Greenburg's cancer doctor but ends up heartbroken again. After a trip to L.A. to visit Dylan's family, Jamie begins to develop those deadly things called feelings. Dylan is scared, of course, because he's a man and there needs to be a third act hurdle for these two crazy kids to climb over. Needless to say, I'm sure you know how it ends. And if you said, "Giant ass flash mob at Grand Central Station," then you are right! Listen, I'm not trying to sell Friends With Benefits as the greatest movie of all time, or anything. It's not even the greatest movie I've seen this month. But it is cute and fun and funny. It's refreshing to watch a cliched romantic comedy that doesn't take itself seriously and pokes fun at itself. Kunis is endearing and charming. Timberlake is fine, although he's been so much better (Alpha Dog). Then, of course, there is that crazy good supporting cast I spoke of earlier. Clarkson and Stone steal every single goddamn scene they are in. This movie isn't without its problems, that's for sure. It's too long. It spends way too much time being boring at the beginning. And I'm not even talking about the terrible Shaun White cameo. But all in all, Friends With Benefits is a cute, sweet, little movie.
Grade: C+

Cedar Rapids - Then there is Cedar Rapids. I was actually looking forward to watching this movie since it got so much buzz at the beginning of the year. Now, all I can say is, what for?? There is nothing original about this movie. In fact, it's not even funny. I don't even think I laughed once. And this is coming from someone who loves Ed Helms so much more than she should. This dull comedy follows Tim Lippe (Helms) as he travels from his small town to the big city of Cedar Rapids to attend an insurance salesman convention. There he gets a little out of control with his roommates Deanzy (John C. Reilly, trying too hard to be a buffoon) and Ron (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). He also gets romantically involved with a married woman (Anne Heche) and a young hooker (Alia Shawkat, one of the few bright spots in this film) even though he's sleeping with his 6th grade teacher back at home (Sigourney Weaver, another of the aforementioned bright spots). All in all, Cedar Rapids is a big waste of time. It's not as bad as some of the other movies I've seen this year but it was definitely not anything special. If you are into this new trend about high strung men losing their shit and doing stupid stuff while in a strange and different land, then maybe you'll like this. But I'm over that trend.
Grade: D+

The Informant!, Pandorum, Whip It, Zombieland

The Informant - The problem with The Informant is NOT Matt Damon's stellar performance. In fact, it just may be the best performance of his career (or second to his subtlety in The Departed). Damon manages to portray the self-obsessed Whitacre with the right amounts of "Hey, I'm a jackass" and "I'm a martyr doing the right thing." No, the problem with The Informant is mostly it's glacial pace. The story is interesting, sure (a man makes $300,000 a year at a company but turns informant instead), and it's true. Still, it takes about 3/4 of the movie until the pace starts to pick up to an enjoyable level. Steven Soderbergh does a great job and The Informant sure is interesting if it's not successful and I'm not sure it is. Also, it's trying to do too many things at once. Is it a wacky, zany comedy? Well, it's not funny enough. Is it a corporate thriller about embezzlement? Well, it's not nearly exciting enough. Damon's performance is enough for me to recommend the film but I wouldn't say it's necessarily good, just average.
Grade: C

Pandorum - Let's get this out of the way - Ben Foster is incredible. Dennis Quaid is incredible. The twist at the end is pretty damn great (you can predict it, but it's still done well enough that I didn't even care). The critics bashed it. Sci-fi fans are heralding it as the best sci-fi movie in a long time. I fall somewhere in the middle. It's an exciting film and it's a little horrifying. Foster and Quaid wake up on a ship that seems abandoned. They are locked in a room on a space ship and they've been in hyper sleep way longer than they should. Foster tries to escape the room through the ventillation system while Quaid guides him. Foster finds help... and some major problems while Quaid meets another young member of the crew who is going off the deep end (played by Twilight hottie Cam Gigandet). My major problem with the film is the crappy camera work. I know it's supposed to be exciting but there's a fine line between hand held exciting camera work and not having any idea what the hell is happening to your characters. Also, at times, it's just a little gross for gross' sake. Being disgusting doesn't further the film in any way. Also, it seems a little convenient that a side effect of hyper sleep is temporary memory loss. However, Foster and Quaid's characters remember just enough when they need to. And while their characters are in different parts of the ship for most of the movie, it allows the screenwriter to fill a ridiculous amount of time with the two trying to contact each other via radio. Basically, the film has its problems but it's also good enough to merit a recommendation. Again, not good, merely average.
Grade: C

Whip It - Whip It is cute. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes, well, not so much. Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut and any shortcomings this movie has aren't necessarily her fault. She does a pretty good job at directing. Sometimes, it's very basic. Nothing she's doing is groundbreaking. But there are some pretty great scenes, very well directed (especially the pool scene near the end... just beautiful). Whip It follows a reluctant beauty queen named Bliss (Ellen Page) who is basically only doing beauty pageants to appease her mom (the amazing / wonderful / fantastic / goddesss of the world Marcia Gay Harden). On a shopping trip to Austin, Bliss discovers a flyer for roller derby. She and best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat a.k.a. Maeby Funke from the greatest show ever to be on TV Arrested Development) go to the derby exhibition game and Bliss is impressed. Soon, she is lying about her age and trying out for the Hurl Scouts team. She changes her name to Babe Ruthless and joins the team alongside Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and Smashely Simpson (Barrymore). There are a few things that endear this movie to me. 1. Har Mar Superstar has a little cameo. 2. Tilly and the Wall is on the soundtrack. 3. I was at some of the places they filmed in Austin. Then, of course, there is the predictibility. This script is paint-by-numbers, cliched and totally predictable. That makes parts of it boring. Then there is the cuteness factor. Some of the cute stuff is just that - cute. Some of it (like a showdown with rival Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) that turns into a silly food fight) is just dumb. Also, Jimmy Fallon just needs to stop acting. He needs to stick to late night and he's not even good at that (just not as bad as acting). All in all, Whip It is a little too cutesy at times although Barrymore does a fine job presenting a kick ass girl power story. See it for the great cast and the cool soundtrack, just don't expect too much.
Grade: C+ (B- on a good day... if I'm feeling nice... which I'm not today).

Zombieland - Zombieland is excatly what it needed to be. I was expecting a ridiculous, off beat, fun horror flick and that's exactly what it is. There is no subtle build up to Zombieland. You are dropped right in (it's complete with flashy, great opening credits). First, you meet Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg who is like Michael Cera although maybe funnier?), a college kid who has a lot of ticks and fears and a lot of rules for surviving Zombieland. Always shoot the zombie twice to make sure it's dead, Beware of bathrooms, Always wear your seatbelt, etc. He is one of five (ha!) surviving humans in Zombieland. Along the way he meets Tallahassee, a totally bad ass Woody Harrelson who just seems to have been born for this role. He's hilarious and bad ass and just all kinds of perfect for this role. All he really wants to do is find a Twinkie and kick zombie ass. They team up and eventually meet Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), a sister con-artist duo who dupe our heroes before eventually teaming up with them. Their plan is the head west to Pacific Playland, an amusement park outside of Los Angeles which they believe is zombie free. Along the way, they make a pit stop at a Beverly Hills home where there is the most perfect cameo in cameo history. I won't ruin it (although I'm sure you can find out) but it's pretty freaking great. Anyway, of course, they eventually get to their destination and guess what? There are TONS of zombies including a really freaky clown zombie. Overall, Zombieland is a whole lot of fun and that's all I really wanted out of it.
Grade: B