It’s been a long time since I watched a movie, due to my daughter’s birth and other reasons. But my wife and I finally managed to watch a movie, even though there were many interruptions.

What better movie than my wife’s favorite TV show of all time, Sex and The City. I watched all episodes of the series with my wife, so I must I do enjoy it. It’s not my favorite show, I don’t know if I would have watched it all without my wife, but I did find it interesting.

So obviously we were interested in the continuation of that story and got exactly what we expected. I am not sure this was a success as a movie, to me it felt more like a series of episodes of the show strung together by a common thread. That thread is more prominet in this movie than in a season of the show, but it really isn’t that different.

I can even imagine the episode breaks: ep 1 is the setup, up to before the wedding. Ep 2 is the big fight. Ep 3 is the mexican trip. Ep 4 is coming back at home and looking for an assistant. Ep 5 is Carrie back as her old self. Ep 6 is the “big” reconciliation. Is this a bad thing? Not for me and the millions of fans of the show, I don’t think.

In terms of production values, I really didn’t feel like this was a step up. Sure there were more expesinve clothes and shoes than you’ll ever see in any fashion event, but the show was like that too.

Now on to the characters and plot (SPOILERS!!)

The first 20 minutes of the movie are just a build up of happiness for all 4 friends. It might have been fun, but it was obvious that things would start to go very bad. The first drama was Steve’s affair. I usually get very annoyed by Miranda, but in this movie she was the victim, so obviously I was more sympathetic towards her. I was impressed that the actress was not afraid of showing her “normal” body. I liked Steve and Miranda’s story, it felt real and didn’t have the unnecessary overly dramatic parts of a break up (did not show Steve cheating, nor him begging more than once etc..), but that’s also due to not having enough screen time.

Most of that time is obviously given to Carrie and Big. I like that we finally know his real name, that’s just a little touch for fans of the show. Having seen all episodes of the show I am obviously a little bit attached to these characters, but I had no idea how much until the big scene in the streets. On one hand I understand that Big was freaked out, but he came back to his sense, although it was too late by then. On the other I also understand Carrie’s anger, each of her blows were heartfelt. But the most surprising moment for me was when Charlotte shouted “No! No!”. She was so angry, and at the same time it felt like she couldn’t say anything more, just like she often does. A very nice touch.

After that scene Big disappears from the movie, only to return at the end with a very disappointing reconciliation. All it took for Carrie was to read his letters, or the letters that he copied, and see him in person. That’s it!?!?! As I said, disappointed. The plot is very predictable, if there is a mention of something, it will happen (the letters, the City Hall wedding etc…)

Charlotte was always my favorite character, she is both funny and serious. Her funny scenes are always of her being embarassed, but I must admit her big funny scene in this movie didn’t work much for me. It worked for making Carrie laugh (again being telegraphed just a few minutes earlier), but I didn’t laugh much. The scene I did like (apart from the dramatic one I mentioned above) is when she bumps into Big and breaks her water. I was surprised that Charlotte did not have any drama at all, on the contrary everything worked out perfectly for her. It’s a nice contrast to the others, a breath of normal life (our life) among all that drama.

On the opposite end there’s nothing normal about Samantha. She tried to have a normal relationship, but her next door neighbour wouldn’t allow her to do that. I must say, her story has always been the lighter and funny one, but I never really connected to it. Yes she’s funny, but there doesn’t seem to be any depth to her. The scene of her break up really sums it up for me. He basically had no reaction, and she had no seriousness either. It’s as if they were never serious.

There were obviosuly some good scenes between the friends, but I feel that when they’re all 4 together it’s just them having fun. It’s during one to one scenes that their relationships shine. Carrie and Miranda share a lot of scenes, both endearing (New Year’s) and dramatic. Carrie and Charlotte have a nice moment. Carrie and Samantha have an interesting telephone conversation. I like that they also have fights, like real friends, not just big fights but even small ones (Miranda and Samantha in Mexico).

Jennifer Hudson’s role didn’t do it for me. She was simply a plot device, not a character. She helped put Carrie back on her feet, bringing back some of that innocence and youth into the story. She was the excuse to bring Big back into the picture, with that computer password (so predictable). When she left, I didn’t feel anything.

I was obviously glad to see all the supporting characters from the show, Harry and Steve, even Steve’s nanny. The two gay friends, though they really didn’t get enough screen time, especially Stan.

Overall I enoyed this movie even though the ending was a little bit weak. This really felt like a season of the show, in fact I didn’t feel this movie was too long (at 2h20m), because it was just a succession of episodes. Hopefully this will put me back into the rythm of movie watching.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

In preparation for my daughter’s birth, I decided to watch this film about teenage girls (or that’s the excuse, in reality I just wanted something girly for my wife).

The story is simple, four girls grow up as best friends, but they will be separate for an entire summer. Each have their own adventure, each made their own discovery about themselves. The premise of the magic pants is not that fantastic, it’s just an excuse to somehow connect these different stories.

I’d seen two actresses in their TV series (Alexis Bedel in Gilmore Girls and Blake Lively in Gossip Girl), so I was at least familiar with them. Their stories were about romance, and they felt typical of a romantic movie.

The other two stories were different though. Ironically the other two girls are not as pretty (being sarcastic here), so they deal with something that felt more profound and meaningful.

Carmen deals with her father’s new family. I must say I hope I don’t become as stupid as that father, he really could have been more sensitive with his daughter. I also like that the new family was not branded as “the bad guys”, instead they’re a normal family like everyone else. I also liked the resolution to this story, it didn’t really wrap up neatly, even though we did get the inevitable happy ending.

The last story was very touching but not overly dramatic. I must say that little actress did a very good job, and I really found her endearing. It had a sad ending, but again they didn’t make it melodramatic.

I would say this movie was ok, I am certainly not the target audience, but it had its moments. There’s a sequel coming, but I don’t think I’ll rush out to watch it.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

This is a drama comedy that actually worked for me. The first scene was to show us how much Holly and Gerry loved each other, but it showed it in an unconventional way: the film starts with them fighting.

This just the first in a series of unconventional decisions for this story, which is one of the things I liked about it. Of course the fight ends with them making up, but we get to know so much about them in that one scene.

From then on we see Holly dealing with her loss in her way, but then Gerry’s letters start coming. He planned a series of letters to be delivered slowly, to help Holly to go on with her life without Gerry.

Each letter comes with a different task for Holly, and the corresponding memories. I don’t want to spoil everything, but there is plenty of nice and funny moments, amist the pain Holly is suffering.

The letters are nice, but sometimes they pushed it too far, into “movie” territory. For example, a letter seems to have helped Holly find her “thing” in life, even though she’d been trying 10 years before that. How come the real Gerry couldn’t help her then?

The reveal of how the letters were sent was a nice surprise, as was the resolution of Holly and Daniel’s relationship. Again, unconventional decisions.

I must admit I enjoyed this movie more than I would like to admit, it was very affecting, so much so that my wife couldn’t sleep that night.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

This is a nice little Egypt/Israel movie, telling a simple story about an Egyptian band visiting Israel, the difficulty they have in locating their destination and the help they receive from the locals.

This movie is actually mostly in English, since that’s the only common language. At times it’s funny, playing on the culture difference as well as some funny situations. I’ll never forget the scene where a band member is teaching Papi how to deal with women. Hilarious.

At times it’s touching, delving into the character’s past. The band’s leader had a lot of personal problems, but at the end of it he seems to be at peace. Not that he’s had a revelation of anything, but sometimes a little thing can change the way you think about life.

This is a very nice little story that anyone can enjoy. It’s also a breath of fresh air amongst the American movies I’ve watched lately.

Rating: 3 Stars

After enjoying The Squid and the Whale I was looking forward to Noah Baumbach’s next project. This movie does have many resemblances to Squid, but it falls short on many levels.

The main star of the story is Margot, played by Nicole Kidman. She’s so annoying and spiteful that I have no idea why her husband ever married her or even wants her back.

I can see why her son would still love her and want her attention, but at times she still treats him as bad as anyone else. These are not plain evil acts or just her being a bitch, she just speaks her mind all the time and behaves righteously as if she knew better than anyone.

I felt really bad for all the other characters who were trying to be friendly with her. Her sister Pauline is really trying to tolerate her and be her friend, and her fiance’ is also trying to deal with her. I actually liked Jack Black in this role, even though he’s playing more or less the same character in all his movies.

Even when Margot is verbally attacked by her lover Dick during a public interview, I didn’t feel bad for her at all. Yes I agree he was a jerk, but I just had no compassion for her at all.

I appreciate that Baumbach is working out some personal issues with this story, Margot being a writer that writes everything about her private life, just like Baumbach does. I just couldn’t find any appealing factor in the star of this movie at all.

Rating: 2 Stars

For a romantic comedy this is not too bad. What’s interesting is that the writer/director took Austen’s body of work, and he crafted his story and characters around Austen’s books, making for interesting parallels during the club discussions.

The actors gave good performances, helping with the enjoyment of this movie. All of them are familiar faces, Maria Bello being my favorite. Amy Brennemen and Jimmy Smits were also interesting.

I liked the contrast between Austen and scifi novels. I must admit I am not interested in Jane Austen at all, though I might have enjoyed some of the movies based on her novels. So I totally identified with the Trey character. However I wish they could have gone a little deeper on those sci-fi books, but I understand why they didn’t.

The biggest problem of this movie (and most rom-coms) is the ending. Everything is resolved neatly at the end, to a point where it was totally unrealistic. They didn’t even try to end it in a more believable way. They just took every single character and gave them a happy ending.

I almost like it, but that ending really took it down.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

I don’t even know why I watched this, there’s not much that would usually interest me. I am not a huge fan of Ben Stiller, though I don’t dislike him. I guess Michelle Monaghan is pretty and has been in good movies that I liked (Gone Baby Gone, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), but I am not a fan of her either.

The Farrelly brothers have never wowed me like others (There’s something about Mary), actually I didn’t even know this was their movie. I guess I was just looking for something light and fun to watch with my wife. If that’s what you want you’ll be entertained.

Everything is very unoriginal, it’s all based on a lie/misunderstanding between a man and a woman, actually a man and two women. The plot is very simple, the main attraction are the funny scenes and the performances by Stiller.

I have to say, there is one scene that made me ball uncontrollably, I don’t know if I was just in the right mood or what, I just laughed like I haven’t laughed in a long time.

The rest is ok, but as with all rom-com the ending is the least interesting part, because we already know how it’s going to end.

This would usually be a 2 stars, but that scene puts it up just a notch.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

This is a movie that a lot of critics praise as one of the best of the past year. I finally got to see and I can see why it was so beloved.

The story is a simple one, but it all comes down to the characters and the performances. Ellen Page as Juno is definitely the heart of the movie. She is a real complete character, not just some stereotype. She starts off as this quirky character who always knows what to say, very confident despite her age (she even says “I’m 16, I am not a kid” or something like that). However as we go on we learn that she is also vulnerable and still hasn’t figured it all out as she wants people to believe.

The other supporting characters are also well rounded ones, despite having little screen time. Juno’s parents are real down to earth people. I loved the scene where Juno tells her about her pregnancy. They were so calm and supportive it should have sounded fake, instead it felt natural.

The adoptive parents were even more interesting. At first we root for the husband, he seems more hip and seems to click with Juno. Whereas the wife seems too uptight and serious. By the end our perception totally changes, not because the characters change, but because we realize what’s important in life.

There are so many great scenes in this movie, I loved the scene where Juno confronts the father of her baby after she discovers he’s going to the prom with another girl. Michael Cera worked very well with Ellen Page.

However this is also a comedy, and there are plenty of laughs in this movie. Mostly they come from Juno’s witty dialog, she really is a funny girl. One scene that pops in my mind is when he goes to the abortion clinic and is stopped by his schoolmate.

There is a lot of heart in this movie, the characters feel real and there is also plenty of laughs. What more can we want from a movie?

Rating: 4 Stars

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (2006): A girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people’s souls.Well, it didn’t take me long to get to the next Park movie. This is his latest effort, and while it is clearly a Park movie, it’s also a departure for him. His previous movies were mainly dramas, with some funny comedic scenes. In this movie things are the opposite.

The premise is just absurd, but this story is about crazy people so it fits. The performances and customs are also over the top, but again it fits. Park also gets to have fun with the cyborg scenes, which are only in Young Goon’s mind.

There are so many interesting characters here, all with peculiar “problems”. These problems can almost be seen as powers, so I loved how their powers interacted. In particular how Il-sun with his stealing power managed to steal the guy who walks backwards’s powers.

That also brings to his relationship with Young Goon. The scene towards the end where he tries to repair her is the highlight of the movie for me, I was touched by what he was doing for her.

This is a lighthearted movie that did not blow me away like some other Park works, but it is still a peculiar and unconventional story. I can see why Park wanted to change pace a little bit. I am glad that he’s trying new things.

Rating: 3 Stars

Lucky You (2007): A hotshot poker player tries to win a tournament in Vegas, but is fighting a losing battle with his personal problems.This movie was a very bad way to start off the year. One of the problems is that it’s about poker, which I have no interested in whatsoever. I can’t play poker, so I don’t really get it when they’re playing.

However I have liked poker games in movies, if filmed well the tension and suspense built up is worth watching. In this movie there is none of that. The little tension from Huck struggling to get the entrance fee to the tournament is completely shattered when in the end he gets it so easily that it’s not even shown!

However that not even my major problem. My problem is the romance between Huck and Billie. I do not see why she would fall for a guy that does not have a job and only plays poker for a living, that steals from her in order to play, and has no goals in life!

I also don’t see why he would fall for her, she has nothing special about her and they don’t even have anything in common. This is the worst relationship I’ve seen depicted on screen.

Not even Robert Duvall could save this horrible film. I must say I didn’t hate this, it wasn’t offensive, it just didn’t make any sense and was boring to me.

Rating: 2 Stars