‘2 Stars’ Archives
The Lovely Bones
This is a more personal movie from director Peter Jackson, it's more about characters than it is about big action and spectacle. That being said he's still using visual effects heavily, in this case to create the world in-between where Susie is stuck after she is murdered. I must admit I was more interested in what happens in the real world [...]
Nine
I recently watched Glee, and I've been pumped about musicals, but watching this movie reminded why I never liked them before. To me this is not a coherent story or character study. To me it's just a series of musical performances by many different actors that don't have a common thread, except for being inspired by Fellini. The music numbers [...]
Me and You and Everyone We Know
This movie is closer to a piece of modern art than to a typical movie. It's about how we all have our language and way to express ourselves, but that's different than anybody else. So sometimes it's hard to connect with other people. There are many characters in this film, all having their own issues. But by the end of the film they all learn [...]
Julie & Julia
Here's another great performance by Meryl Streep, who portrays a non-fictional person Julia Child in Paris, in the 1950s. Her story is only half of the movie, the other half is about Julie Powell (Amy Adams) in present day, who writes a blog about Julia's cookbook. Even though the subject of this story is cooking, it didn't feel boring to me (I [...]
Bruno
I enjoyed Borat especially because I watched it with a couple of friends. But Bruno was a disappointment. Apart from the fact that I watched it by myself, it just wasn't as spontaneous as Borat. Most of the movie is like a normal movie shot with cameras and actors. There are only a few scenes where people are not actors and are simply disgusted [...]
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
This is a drama about the life of Pippa Lee, how her mother was always high, how she left home and stayed with her aunt, how she met her husband etc... Her past is all done in flashbacks, while in the present she's dealing with her husband's health and a young man in her life. I usually like biographical movies, but this story just didn't [...]
Four Christmases
Romantic comedy, Vince Vaughn, Reese Whitherspoon. Do I need to say anything else? Nothing special about this one, just a typical romantic comedy. It's fine to watch with your partner, it won't stick in your memory for too long. Rating: 2 Stars
The Answer Man
The only reason I watched this movie is the presence of Lauren Graham. I hadn't seen her since the end of the Gilmore Girls show, so I just wanted to check out a recent film of hers. Too bad it was this bad, clichéd story. Jeff Daniels tries his best to bring this character to life, a know-it-all snobbish man who wants to date an innocent [...]
Gigantic
This is a quirky little romantic comedy, that dabbles in surrealism. The story is focused on Brian's dream to adopt a Chinese baby and his relationship with Happy. But there's also a surrealism added in the form of a homeless man who keeps beating Brian on the street. It's never explained if he is real or not, and if not what he represents. [...]
The Proposal
Wow, another rom-com with two actors that I don't really care for!! Sandra Bullock's humor is a bit too physical to me, I just don't find her too funny. For some reason I never liked Ryan Johnson, can't really tell why exactly. Is it realistic that the immigration office would go those lengths just to catch a fake marriage? He seemed like a bad [...]
The Ugly Truth
Here's another rom-com, this time the concept is... what is the concept? Let's try: controlling woman finds the perfect man, but changes herself in order to get him. Then realizes that she doesn't want him, she wants someone who loves her for what she is!! Ok, that was long and stupid. That's pretty much what this movie is, stupid. I admit I did [...]
My Life In Ruins
Since I had a week of holiday, I found some romantic movies to watch with my wife. Here's the first one, which was pleasant but very light-hearted. This is actually more of a comedy than a romance, though that element is always present. Nia Vardalos is cute and funny, so I did have a good time with her. I also like Richard Dreyfuss in general, [...]
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
I've been pretty happy with the straight to DVD DC Animation movies so far, some I liked more than others, but the quality in general was good. Unfortunately I was very disappointed by this latest release. The worst part is that the animation looked cheap. The style was a bad mish mash of the original comic story's artist Ed McGuiness and a [...]
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
This is a twist on the Christmas Carol story, adapting it to a hopeless playboy who doesn't believe in marriage. I must say the idea is interesting, but the execution is nothing too special. I never liked Matthew McConaughey, though I guess we're not supposed to like him here at first. Jennifer Garner on the other hand is a favorite of mine, [...]
Office Space
This is one of those movies that I've heard about but never got to see it. I was not working when this came out, so I am glad I got to see it now. There are many scenes that are obviously taken from real life in an office (the printer constantly not working, the cubes etc...). So I definitely identified with those. When Peter is hypnotized he [...]
Management
As romantic comedies goes, this one was funny at times. That's due in large part to Steve Zahn's performance as Mike the loser. I've liked Jennifer Aniston since her days in Friends, but I don't see her broadening her acting beyond these romantic comedies. The scene in her hotel room where Sue lets Mike touch her butt is funny and odd. There [...]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I'm was a big fan of the X-Men comics, so I was happy that their movie version was so successful. That said I wasn't too excited about this spin off, since it didn't have any of the creators I enjoyed in previous movies, except for Hugh Jackman. There are a lot of elements in this movie taken from the comics, but I felt that the overall plot [...]
Penelope
I watched Penelope, and it is not dreadful, indeed. It certainly is a Hollywood rom-com, with many of the usual "trappings" (the "good but bad" boyfriend, the "bad but good" boyfriend who has a secret, etc...). But it does have a twist to it. The curse is definitely interesting, I certainly liked the thread of Penelope discovering the world for [...]
Point Blank
This is a 1967 movie that is an adaptation of the novel The Hunter. I was interested in it because it was highly recommended by comic writer Ed Brubaker, and there's also a comic adaptation by Darwin Cooke, so I wanted to compare the two (though I don't have the comic yet). I don't know what I expected, but I wasn't into it. I can't really [...]
G.I. Joe: Resolution
I'm not a big G.I. Joe fan, but I was interested in this for 2 reasons: 1) this was first available online as short webisodes 2) Warren Ellis wrote this Ellis brings his tech talk to this story, with plenty of explanations as to how Cobra's plan works, and how Joe is going to beat him. Luckily this is a standalone story that doesn't require [...]