Mini Reviews

I have been slacking lately, and I promise to pick up the pace for all my loyal readers (haha). Anyway, I've seen a few movies this year that I haven't had time to write about so I figured I would write a little something about them before moving on to the SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS (read: Godzilla, which is literally the only thing I care about right now).

Endless Love
Stars: Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde
Plot: A sheltered rich girl falls for a charismatic bad boy and they fall crazy in love with each other. Dance parties, breaking and entering, and burning down houses ensues.
Thoughts: I mean, the movie was decent. There is nothing special about it, but I also seriously didn't mind starring at Alex Pettyfer (he so pretty) for an hour and a half. Plus, he and Wilde had a really sweet chemistry. And she is just about the prettiest girl I've ever seen. And it just occurred to me that the only redeeming qualities this movie had are its pretty stars.
Grade: C-

Bad Words
Stars: Jason Bateman
Plot: A grown man finds a loophole and decides to enter a child's spelling bee. Bateman's character is pretty much the most terrible person that ever walked the face of the Earth as he bad mouths and tortures kids, knocking them out of the tournament one by one.
Thoughts: Hilarious is a good word for it. Bateman, who also directed, knocks it out of the park with this very funny, very dirty, very raw movie. My only concern with it was that it felt really, really long and it was only 90 minutes. FYI: That's a sign of a bad editor. If a movie is short and feels long, you've got a bad editor on your hands. Inversely, if a movie is long and feels short, give that editor an Oscar!
Grade: B

Draft Day
Stars: Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Chadwick Boseman
Plot: A day in the life of the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns as he struggles to make big decision regarding the NFL draft. Unfortunately, no cameos from Johnny Manziel.
Thoughts: I liked this movie, especially the last third of it which is unrealistic but still hugely exciting (and, just so you know, the real draft is not even close to being that exciting). The movie is mostly held together by the endless charms of Kevin Costner. But the strange editing (split scenes, characters walking through said split screens and crossing into a different space) is really off-putting and distracting. Chadwick Boseman absolutely kills it as a hopeful Brown.
Grade: C

Neighbors
Stars: Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Dave Franco
Plot: A Frat moves next door to a pair of new parents who are struggling to grow up and still be cool.
Thoughts: This movie is super funny, if not a little heavy handed. Neighbors sort of assumes that the audience is really stupid, spelling things out for you, like we can't just pick up on the hints that Byrne and Rogen are struggling with not being young or hip anymore, or that Efron is the golden boy who is terrified of the future. They have to hit you over the head with these things, saying them out loud. Still, Neighbors is definitely a good time. Byrne steals the show, and it's really nice to see a comedy that lets the woman actually be funny and not uptight or something. Also, Zac Efron's abs are a thing of beauty and perfection and I almost never want to see another man besides him shirtless ever again. See it for his abs alone!
Grade: B

Fading Gigolo
Stars: John Turturro, Woody Allen
Plot: An aging florist decides to become a gigolo and is pimped out by his neighbor.
Thoughts: Ugh. This movie is dreadful. First of all, if you are blessed enough to have Woody Allen appear in your movie (he hasn't appeared in a movie that he hasn't written/directed in decades), then you should probably give him the script and let him do a once over on the whole thing. The script is absolutely terrible, with characters acting certain ways with no purpose whatsoever. Nothing anyone does in this movie makes any sense whatsoever. It's terrible. Stay away.
Grade: D

That Awkward Moment

The saving grace of That Awkward Moment is the fact that they had the foresight to cast two exciting young actors, who take their cliche roles in a cliche movie and give it all they have, often giving the audience a lot more than we're expecting, and definitely more than the daft script asks of them. Make no mistake: Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller are the only reason to see this movie. They both turn on the charm. Jordan manages to create a three-dimensional man out of a poorly written character, and Teller uses his natural charisma and perfect sardonic comedic timing to bring his character to life. Zac Efron is the weak spot here, but that's not to say he isn't good; he has a very good presence. But he's definitely not as good as his co-stars.

Jordan stars as Mikey, a young man who seems to have it all together. He went to med school, currently works in the ER, married a smart, pretty girl (Jessica Lucas), and everything seems to be going great for him - until he comes home one day to find out his wife is sleeping with her lawyer. Oh, you know, the one she hired to divorce him. (Side note: And here is where you have to suspend disbelief. I would sooner believe that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is going to come save me from a disaster than a girl ever breaking up with Michael B. Jordan, who is flawless.) So, Mikey is thrust back into the single world, where his two best friends from college flourish. It's their natural habitat. Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) design book covers by day and hit on and sleep with every available girl in the five boroughs by night. They decide to not only help Mikey get a lady, but also stay single. After all, when will they have this chance again - all being young and single in the city? All things seem to be going fine until Jason starts to fall for a quirky cutie named Ellie (Imogen Poots) and Daniel begins to see his wing woman Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) in a new light. They try to hide their budding relationships from Mikey and, of course, hilarity (or at least, soft chuckles) ensues.

The major problem with That Awkward Moment is that I'm not exactly sure it knows what kind of movie it wants to be. It's presenting itself as sort of a cross between a good ole' romantic comedy and a raunchy bro movie for dudes. The problem is those audiences don't exactly overlap. Girls want to watch sweet romantic comedies with their friends, while boys want to watch raunchy comedies with their friends. It's not exactly enough of either of those things to completely appeal to either audience. It doesn't ever give in completely to being one thing, but instead carries on for over 90 minutes as if it's having a sort of identity crisis. Also, there's just not enough laughs to justify the problems with it - plot holes, poorly written characters, cliches by the dozen. However, like I said in the first paragraph, Jordan and Teller do what they can to make the whole thing worthwhile. And they succeed sometimes, and sometimes That Awkward Moment is a fine little comedy. I think Poots is probably going to be a star sometime in the near future, but this isn't the movie that's going to do it for her. She's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and I'm excited to see what she turns up in next (FYI: a Nick Hornby adaptation!). I like Efron for some reason, although I'm not sure he's destined to be a movie star. He has some sort of IT factor, but he's just not a good enough actor to be anything more than that Rom-Com guy, which is fine. I'd be interested to see him on TV, in some sort of Mindy Project comedy but with a guy in the lead. I think he'd probably kill it week in and week out. But he seems determined to try his hand and movie stardom, and so he's always going to be playing second fiddle to guys like Jordan and Teller. The good news is these three guys have a great sort of bro chemistry that really works and is fun to watch. If only the script around them was better. Because, from where I stand, That Awkward Moment wasn't a great way to start 2014 movie-wise. It wasn't a terrible way either, though.

Grade: C+

The Lucky One

So, I already made excuses for one mediocre movie this year just because the star(s) was/were hot. (See also: This Means War starring Tom Hardy and Chris Pine). My quota has been filled. I can't do it again. (Although, I reserve the right to change my mind if Magic Mike ends up being terrible). So, yes, Zac Efron finally looks like a man. He's super hot and even a little charming. But that doesn't change the fact that The Lucky One is a terribly trite, terribly boring "romance." I put romance in parenthesis because the stars have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. I imagine it has to be easy to have chemistry with someone as good looking as Efron, although, his acting is so wooden and stiff here that it's not too surprising.

The Lucky One is opens with Efron as a Marine overseas during a night raid. The next morning, he is sitting on a brick wall and sees something shimmering in the sunlight. He goes over to pick up this picture of a pretty blonde just as the brick wall is bombed and everyone dies. This pretty girl in the picture saves his life. Eight months later, he makes it out alive and decides to find this woman so that he can thank her. He does end up finding her (a little too easily, no??) but instead of thanking her, he decides to work for her at her dog kennel instead. He bonds with her precocious curly haired son and her feisty grandmother (Blythe Danner, seriously the only good thing about this movie) but pretty Beth (Taylor Schilling) is a little more distant. Eventually they fall in love, or whatever, and Efron takes his shirt off and that's nice, but unfortunately that's about it. Oh, sure, there's a sub plot about Beth's semi-evil ex-husband who is a cop and the son of a judge and who is abrasive and maybe abusive and drinks a lot and makes a lot of threats. But his character is so two dimensional that you don't even care. In fact, that can be said about all of the characters. I didn't care about a single one of them.

The script was cheesy as can be. The direction was fine, I guess. Efron, who I think could get past this stigma attached to him and become a really respected star... if only he'd start picking the right kinds of movies, was wooden and was missing that charimsa that I know he has. Schilling was fine, I guess, although, again, I didn't care a bit about her. Danner was the only thing that kept this movie going and her part was so small, they couldn't even fully take advantage of her. I will say that the absolute best part of the movie was the beautiful scenery. The movie was filmed in New Orleans and so I immediately want to move there, of course. Overall, The Lucky One was just another sappy, pathetic movie starring pretty people all dressed up as a love story we are supposed to believe. The sentiment is nice, I guess, but the story is so unbelievable that it's hard to find a way to care.

Grade: D+

Hairspray, Premonition (DVD)

Hairspray - Hairspray is the kind of movie that immediately puts a smile on your face. It's a charming, well done musical. Is it as glossy as last years big musical, Dreamgirls? No. Dreamgirls surely looked better but as far as story, characters, and substance, Hairspray is far superior. The story follows chubby teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) in 1960's Baltimore. She and her best friend Penny Pingleton (an adorable Amanda Bynes) are obsessed with the dance program The Corny Collins Show hosted by James Marsden. Tracy also has a major crush on one of the stars of the show - Link Larkin (Zac Efron). Despite her mother's (John Travolta!) discouragement, Tracy auditions for the show and Corny picks her eventhough the station manager Velma (a delightful, evil, wonderful Michelle Pfeiffer) objects. Lots of singing and dancing ensues. Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Allison Janney, Elijah Kelley, and Christopher Walken round out the stellar cast. Also, look for cameos from some of the gang from the original Hairspray movie: Jerry Stiller, Ricki Lake and original director John Waters. Eventhough Hairspray may seem dated (takes place in the early 60's, remake of a movie from the late 80's), its very much like Grease in the sense that it's timeless. The songs are great (my personal favorite is 'Ladie's Choice' by Efron... and I can see why he elicits screams from young girls - he's dreamy!). The cast is nothing short of amazing. Pfeiffer, making a return to the screen after way too long, is easily the stand-out. She's just having so much fun being so, so very bad. Bynes would get my best runner up award as far as performances go. She's adorable and hilarious. Blonsky is a wonderfully capable newcomer. Walked is mostly being Walken (and there is definitely nothing wrong with that) and Travolta is having the time of his life - especially during hs homage to Tina Turner near the end. The story drags a bit and the cinematography could have been stronger but all in all, Hairspray is one fun movie!

Grade: B

Premonition - What Sandra Bullock lacks in talent (let's face it - she's no Meryl), she makes up for in likeability. I find it very difficult to not like her when she's in a film. She's easy to cheer for and you really want to like the swill she turns up in most of the time. I actually really liked her last attempt at traversing space and time in film - The Lake House - but that made up for all the plot holes with chemistry to spare from Bullock and Keanu Reeves. There is zero chemistry between Bullock and her Premonition love interest Julian McMahan. I like him but he's going through the motions here. McMahon plays Bullock's husband who dies one day and is alive the next. It goes back and forth and things happen that Bullock can't explain. People talk to her like they've met before but she doesn't know who they are. Here daughter has scars all over her face and doesn't know why. There are random dead birds and strange phone messages. So, in short, Premonition is sort of a mess - bad supporting actors giving wooden performances, a script that isn't nearly as clever as it thinks it is, plot holes galore. The only thing it really has going for it is Bullock's likeability factor. You want to root for her. Unfortunately, likeability only gets you so far and Bullock just can't save this movie.

Grade: D+