I went in to True Grit expecting great things but found it fell short, and I walked into Tron expecting blehh but found the opposite. I actually really enjoyed the film. No, it wasn't mind blowing and no it was the best thing I've ever seen, but it was much better than I expected. I obligated to see it because of my love of cinema. I mean, this remake is kind of a big deal. That day I was supposed to go to the zoo with my cousins but Jack, who's 8, said that he'd rather go see Tron. I love that kid. I mean the zoo's great, but any 8 year old who'd rather go see an awesome CGI movie instead of some elephants is pretty baller in my opinion. Did I mention he's now into The Lord of the Rings movies? He's a keeper I think. Anyway, back to the film...

I thought the pacing was pretty good. There were constant plot points moving the piece along. I had to pee half way through but painfully held it until the end because I didn't want to miss anything. I had no problem getting up to use the rest room during True Grit...I knew I wouldn't miss much.

The CGI is, as expected, great. It better be after the cash Disney dropped for its multi-year development. CG Jeff Bridges was really good. It actually looked like young Jeff Bridges. There were some angles where you couldn't even tell that the character was CG. I look forward to the development of the technology, I bet in 10 years we're not going to be able to tell a difference between CG humans and live action humans. The main thing that I felt like was off with young JB was his speech. I think there is still work to be done fixing the audio sync and lip movements of CG people.

I think my main complaint was the lack of color in the grid. I get it, it's about computers and yada yada...it just seems that it would have looked so much cooler if it wasn't so dark. I mean, there were basically four colors in the grid: black, blue, white, and orange. With the crazy talent that Disney hired to make this film, it just seems that they could have taken a bit more advantage of the ability to include color to make it more dynamic. I feel like this film is going to look like crap if I ever rent it to watch on my TV at home...the detail won't transfer as well as other films because of how dark it is.

The acting was fine. Jeff Bridges was of course great. I can't really take Garrett Hedlund seriously because I can only picture him as Murtagh in Eragon. I don't know why...Olivia Wilde, oh Olivia Wilde. She's pretty, which I think is all she was really good for. That part was pretty boring in my opinion but I suppose they needed a pretty girl in there somewhere. I thought Michael Sheen was hilarious. I didn't realize he was in the movie so that was a nice little surprise. I also liked how they started off the film with the chase scene. I was expecting to be kind of bored but the writers got you into the plot of the film right off the bat. I think Disney knew the first Tron's reputation consisted of a rather boring plot line, and amped it up right from the start this go around.

That's really all I've got. It was a good little film. It wasn't mind blowing though, so I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

True Grit was well...Truly Underwhelming. If you've read any reviews of this film mine will come as no big surprise. I think that the biggest problem with this movie was the incredibly high expectation that most of us movie-goers had. I remember being so pumped when I first saw the trailer...Jeff Bridges...Matt Damon...Josh Brolin...and The Coen Brothers? A remake of the only movie John Wayne won an Oscar for? Surely this will be cinematic awesomeness.  I couldn't wait to go and see the film. And then I did. And I left the theater thinking 'ehhhh...' Perhaps if the build up and my expectations hadn't been so high I'd have liked it more.

In all honesty, it was a good film. The acting was very good. (Although I did think that Jeff Bridges, whom I love, played a character painfully similar Bad Black from Crazy Heart...) The sets and costumes were convincing. The score was appropriate. The thing is there was nothing mind blowing, nothing happened that I didn't see coming, The pacing was a bit off, which I think was perhaps it's biggest flaw. It often got slow and redundant.

That's all I've got for this post. Besides the pacing there wasn't really anything I disliked about the film. The problem is there wasn't really anything I loved about it either.

I don't know a better way to begin my Friday than writing about some Harry Potter. Oh, how I love me some HP. I actually got to see the movie a few days before the actual premiere with my fabulous friend Caitlin who had a plus one to a press screening. After I saw the movie I felt like I had this secret little nugget of info that none of my friends had until last night. I had already bought my midnight screening tickets at the Alamo Drafthouse so I decided to go ahead and go again last night!

Despite my "mild" obsession with Harry Potter, I'm still able look at the films critically and evaluate their cinematic quality. I have to say that I believe this is my favorite movie thus far. Perhaps that's because I've seen the others so many times, but I don't really think so. I really wish that they would have split books 4, 5, and 6 into two parts as well. They were able to stick to the story line much better which is something that, as a fan of the books, I really appreciate. I feel like I always have to justify the films to my friends who haven't read and explain how much better the novels are. Also, we all know the film or acting quality hasn't been stellar. Especially when it comes to the first 4 films. When David Yates took over directing for The Order of the Phoenix he did such a stellar job the producers decided to keep him around, despite their previous affinity to hiring a new director for each film.

PS, if you haven't seen the movie yet, spoilers to follow.

Let's start with what I didn't like so that we can get on with the good stuff. This section should be rather short. In fact, there was really only one thing that they didn't include that frustrated me. They had to change some things for the purpose of story telling, allowing them to effectively portray the necessary information so that everything that goes down in part 2 makes sense, but as audience members we can understand and appreciate that. However, I felt like it would have taken two seconds to add in a line at the beginning where (in the book) Dudley tells the rest of the Dursley's that he wants to leave and thanks Harry for saving his life from the dementors two years prior. I mean really? This was an important moment that takes us from believing that Dudley is a static character to one that is dynamic. Also, I named my dog Dudley since the HP Dudley turned out to not be a jerk. (He also looks like a Dudley, to be fair.) You'd never know that he's not if you just watch the movies though. Ugh. Rude.

On to things I liked, shall we? I'm going to do this in list form so that this section is actually readable.

-CGI
      -I loved all of the characters changing from one person to a different as they took the poly juice potion or as it wore off. It looked amazing.
      -The revamp of Dobby the elf and Kreacher were great CGI characters.
      -Also, the scene where Bathilda Bagshot transforms from herself to the corpse as the snake leaves her body was so stellar and just looked extremely amazing!

-Suspense
      -They did such a great job with the writing here. They really played to the audience who had read the books. The Bathilda Bagshot scene was so well done. I was on the edge of my seat both times. They know we know that something bad is going to happen, but they drag it out really effectively.

-Comedy
     -There were some great one liners and great reaction shots that were hilarious. Most of them were added in by the screenwriters, but they did a great job. I won't give any of this away because I don't want to ruin anything, but I was chuckling all the way through.

-Acting
     -Oh my goodness, I heart Alan Rickman (Snape). I've never really loved him in this particular role. That's right, I said it. I love him as an actor in general but I think I just pictured Snape looking and acting differently than Rickman's portrayal. However, he does an amazing job in this film. The quiet subtlety of his facial features allowed you to almost read Snape's mind through the look in his eyes during some pivotal moments. I cannot wait to see him in Part 2. I think that's actually what I'm looking forward to most in the next film.
     -I still think that Rupert Grindt is the best of the threesome. I read that Scorsese is wishing to take him under his wing in a few of his next projects as he did with Leonardo DiCaprio, so I'm so excited to see what all this guy is going to accomplish in this profession. I'm not a huge fan of Daniel Radcliffe ( I know, I know. I should be stoned) He's just not that great of an actor. Emma Watson I think is darling, and she's made great strides since the first film. I also absolutely adore Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. But who doesn't, right?

     -I also think that the fact that the cast is still basically the same after 10 years bodes some recognition. The only actor replaced was Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed away in 2002.  I mean, really? 10 years? Can you imagine the repor and connection that cast and crew has? I think this is truly a very unique situation that I'm very glad remained intact for the conclusion of the 7 films.

-Score
     -This was as expected, completely brilliant. I don't really have anything more to say other than it was absolutely amazing.

-Action
      -After they didn't include the epic battle scene in the 6th movie, I was what I believe to be understandingly upset. They definitely made up for it here. There were some really great sequences that looked amazing.

On a side note, I'm anxious to see the deleted scenes. I'm fairly certain they actually shot the sequence where Lupin comes to meet Harry, Hermione, and Ron at Grimmauld place. For one, Tonks begins to tell them that they were expecting a child but we never get confirmation later in the film. For two, I noticed Harry say "You-Know-Who" later which suggests he had a reason to stop saying "Voldemort." Lupin of course tells them in the same scene from the book that Voldemort's name has been traced in an effort to catch members of the Order of the Phoenix. One other thing I found interesting was the way that Mrs. Cattermole's hair was done. It was a very 1940's style which reminded me of the Holocaust and all of the interrogations about bloodlines during that time. Touche Mr. Yates, Touche.

I think I'm done here people. This was definitely a great film and I await with a bittersweet longingness for Part 2. I am so anxious to see the conclusion of the series but I just love all of the hype and the waiting for the unknown that comes with each premiere. I also love love love seeing everyone all dressed up at the premieres. Some of them are clever and funny, and some of them are just plain odd. Ask me to tell you about the guy sitting next to my friend Melissa in the theater. I really can't do the reenactment justice by writing it out in this blog. :)

Well, I went and saw The Social Network this weekend, or as most people describe it..."the facebook movie..." Seriously...why didn't they just name it "The Facebook Movie? Was it because of copyrights? I don't think so because they had that logo all up in the film every time you turned around! I really thought the title was stupid, but that's just me. With that err in judgement aside, I have to say I really enjoyed the movie. Remember when you first heard that there was going to be a facebook movie? I do. I laughed out loud. Then I thought to myself, man, Hollywood is even more willing to make a piece of crap movie, use the term "facebook" to get attention, and thus make a gazillion dollars. I never in my wildest dreams imagined this movie would be remotely good. Who knew?

Let's talk about what I liked first. I have to say my BIGGEST pet peeve with most films is pacing. It's unfortunate, but there are many more films that are slow and poorly paced than those that move along really well. The Social Network flowed wonderfully and I never once checked my watch to see how much longer we had until it was over. So props to you, Aaron Sorkin! (For those of you who don't know, he was the screen writer who also wrote West Wing, A Few Good Men (one of my all time faves!) and Charlie Wilson's War (it was aiiight...)) Speaking of Sorkin, I loved his narrative form here. The film is narrated by two different present-day hearings where various people are suing Zuckerberg.
The plaintiff's depositions are interrupted by flashbacks that tell the complete story from the discovery of facebook all the way until he was sued by his best friend and former business associates. It definitely kept the story moving along. Further, story line-wise, the opening was brilliant. We get a perfect portrayal of Zuckerberg's character right off the get go. We understand he is socially awkward, wants to be in the cool clubs, gets broken up with by his girlfriend for being a complete jerk, and so on. We enter into the meat of the story from here.The cinematography was also really well done. We had a unified color theme that translated throughout the entire film. For example, if you are flipping through channels on cable one day and you don't immediately recognize the movie, you always will know that that scene came from the The Social Network because of the consistent look and feel. I also loved the rowing scene where the Winklevoss boys were racing and their faces were going in and out of focus as they rowed. I thought it was a good symbolization of their frustration with losing the race paralleled with their lawsuit of Zuckerberg.

Let's move on to a few things I wasn't so crazy about First of all, casting. I'm still on the fence here. I liked Andrew Garfield as Eduardo. He's going to be the next Spiderman so we'll definitely be seeing him a lot more in the future. As for Justin Timberlake playing the part of Sean Parker, did anyone else find it SUPER ironic that JT was playing the founder of Napster? N'Sync was in its glory days when the whole Napster/free music debacle went down. I just thought it was kind of odd and it took me out of the movie because I kept thinking how weird the whole situation was... This is irrelevant, but I'm so used to seeing him in those big plastic glasses and fedoras lately, that I didn't realize he looked like good ol' Justin from N'Sync again. As for his actual acting, I have to say that it was better than say his portrayal of Jason in Model Behavior BUT I really don't understand why he's getting Oscar buzz. I mean, really? He was good, but he wasn't great. There was nothing that would have stood-out about that performance had it been played by someone who wasn't JT. As for our protagonist/antagonist Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg (anyone else think it's funny their last names end in 'berg? How German of them...) I thought Jesse did alright. He definitely had this look of confusion on his face or some other countenance that just made you kind of pity the guy. Not sure if that was on purpose or not, but it worked.

Let's talk about the "fiction-ness" of this film. First of all, we have to remember watching it that this film is fiction. However, because of the use of the actual character's real names, we kind of forget that this isn't necessarily the way everything went down. This brings up the question of the responsibility of Hollywood production studios to portray real life events as they truthfully happened. Of course, there is no such "responsibility" and Hollywood execs don't give a care whether or not it's 100% true as long as the story is interesting enough to garner some $$. And I understand that it doesn't always work plot-wise or cash-wise to produce something as it happened, it just stinks for the people who are getting portrayed in a false light. Even though the studios will tell you it's "fiction" so you shouldn't form any real opinions off of the story line, passive audience members will always believe what's put in front of them.

I really thought the portrayal of Zuckerberg throughout this film was very interesting. On the one hand, you think he's a complete jerk. But for whatever reason, you also kind of identify with and pity him. There's some great writing here because his character is so dynamic and as audience members, we have a very complex  opinion of him. I thought it was important that they left out the conversation between Zuckerberg and the executives where it was decided that Eduardo's shares of the company would be the only ones watered down. We kind of identify with Zuckerberg because it's clear that that's clearly not how he wanted it to go down, but we also know he didn't give up any of his shares to save some of Eduardo's. Very interesting...

Otherwise, I just saw a couple of funny things I thought I would share. For one, Kevin Spacey was an executive producer. What the heck? Random! Secondly, there were a couple of continuity errors but one I found particularly obvious was the end scene where Zuckerburg was adding someone as a friend and the 'add to friend list' pop up was present. Wasn't that a super new feature that probably wasn't there when that scene took place in real life?

Overall, I'd say this film was really a lot better than I had expected. Oscar worthy? We'll see after some of these other contenders start showing up in the coming months but if I had to guess, I'd say no. Perhaps nominations for writing and cinematography though. Well done, David Fincher, well done!

In case we haven't noticed by now, I have a great interest in learning anything that I can about World War II, particularly the Holocaust. I love war movies in general, especially World War II and the Vietnam War. I think that in these types of films, be they fiction or non fiction, have an inherant emotional connection between the subject/protagonist and the audience member. Those of us watching already know the background and already can sympathize with the main character(s) of the movie. I'm positive film makers are aware of this connection, make a movie about it, and then often get lazy. (Don't even get me started on Valkyrie) I think that's what happened in Steal a Pencil For Me.


That's really all I've got for this post...See the film if you'd like to, but you'll probably be bored. It's such a shame too, because it really had the potential to be a great, heart-wrenching documentary.

I have to say I'm still making up my mind as to whether I liked this documentary or not. I'm caught somewhere in the middle. Here's why: the directors, Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh, had an inherently amazing story to tell. What frustrates me often with these documentaries, is that even though you may have something great to share with the audience, it doesn't mean you should participate in lazy film making. We'll get into that more with my next post...

Hmmmm...The Cove, The Cove, The Cove. Where do I even begin?

How about here: I believe this is easily the best piece of non-fiction work I've ever seen. I mean, seriously. I just watched it yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it. That's a true sign of amazing story telling.

One of the many reasons why this film is so successful is because the film makers have an excellent message to share with the audience. Further, it's a message that really really appeals to your emotions. Anytime a film maker is able to successfully pull at your heart strings, the film is going to be a success. I'm pretty sure I'll never go to SeaWorld again (don't let that stop you from watching this doc though!) and had I been eating dolphin, I'd stop. This, clearly, is not an issue.

Louie Psihoyos narrated the majority of the film. He explains the main goal, which is finding out what happens in a small cove located in Taiji, Japan where tens of thousands of dolphins are killed each year. Our protagonist is Richard O'Barry who was a longtime dolphin trainer, and starred in the TV show Flipper. After about ten years in the business, and having acquired a large amount of knowledge about the incredible intelligence of dolphins, he began to campaign for their freedom and in many cases, their life. He is able to elicit the help of Psihoyos who has many film industry contacts that are able to help provide their cause with some of the most state of the art equipment in existence today, as well as a group of people whom he describes as his own "Ocean's 11."

So in addition to having a great story, this film was technically amazing. Their budget was obviously extensive. I'd really like to know what they spent here. However, the awesome top of the line equipment they used was absolutely necessary in successfully telling their story. For example, the image above was taken with a thermal-sensing camera that displays pictures based on the heat of the objects around it. Because many of their operations had to occur in the dead of the night to successfully plant cameras without being caught, there was obviously not a lot of light for normal cameras to pick up on. Also, with this piece of equipment, they were able to watch for guards approaching in the dark. And it just looks really cool on your tv screen...They coupled this with several night vision, infrared cameras to add a different dynamic to the scene. Everything they shot, everything, was in high definition and looked amazing. It didn't feel as though they just picked up whatever camera they could get their hands on, despite quality, and started grabbing footage. A lot of documentaries today do have a very digital feel to them. Not this guy...every shot was beautiful. Major kudos to Brook Aitken, their cinematographer...major.

Next we have their method of story telling. We know from the get-go that the whole point of this film, what we want to know most, is what's going on in this cove. The plan is to set up secret cameras to record exactly what is going on there, since the only people who know are the fishermen directly involved in the slaughter. Throughout the movie we get Louie Psihoyos and Richard O'Barry giving us the logistics of pulling off this immensely important footage capture. However, the story often gets interrupted by other imperative information that helps the audience realize more as each scene is completed, why we are dying to see what happens in that cove. We learn about how dolphins became such a fascination in modern culture, how smart they are, who eats them, the current plans to keep them safe, etc. But these little nuggets keep getting interrupted by other scenes that bring us back to the task at hand. The suspense that they build is crazy good. By the time we see the fruits of their labor, I was about to lose it!

That brings me to the conclusion...when we finally see the footage they captured, I had an idea what was coming, but I was completely stunned. Not only was the video telling, it was truly beautiful. They had those cameras placed in extremely successful, strategical positions. They couldn't have had better footage. There's one particular shot, and I can't tell you what it is without giving it away, but this shot was perhaps one of the best and most powerful shots I think I have ever seen in all my years of film watching. No lie. (Normally I don't care about ruining the ending of films on this blog, but you just need to see it for yourself.)

Curious? Go see this movie!! It's on instant Netflix! It won that Academy Award for a reason, people. Seriously.

"If I peed my pants would you pretend that I just got wet from the rain?"

Oh, Michael Cera. It's a good thing the writers for this film were so good. This is definitely one of the great one liners from the movie, and Cera did a great job with the delivery, but I am just so over him. He plays the same character in every movie which makes things so so predictable.

That little soap box aside, this movie was really really good. Here's why: the post production was some of the best I think I've ever seen. It's just a really beautiful film. The special effects were amazing...I can't wait to rent the blu-ray so that I can see all the behind the scenes features. The fight scenes were really great, and this is probably where I was most impressed with Cera...dude can kick and flip and hit like nobody's business. Maybe that's not true...he's just so awkward it was surprising to see him so coordinated. I think that's it. :)

Besides Cera, I thought the film was really well casted. Kieran Culkan (man those Culkan's have some weirdly spelled names...) did a very good job in his supporting role. Great comedic timing... I really wish we had seen more of Anna Kendrick and Jason Schwartzman...especially Schwartzman. He's definitely a stand out actor in this piece. I just feel like they advertised the heck out of those two and we really didn't see much of them...especially Kendrick. Man I hate it when the studios do stuff like that!

I haven't personally read the comics that this film is based off of, but I've heard from multiple people that they stayed very true to the original. So major props for that! The special effects (again, so good...) made me feel like I was indeed inside of a comic book. It definitely was a really cool experience.
That's all I've got...not a particularly long post...the special effects were amazing and I really hope it's nominated for an Oscar because there was some very impressive, truly amazing work done here.

While sitting bored at my job perusing Hulu, I came across Chaplin. I'd heard of the film of course but have just never gotten around to watching it. Perhaps subconsciously part of the reason was because I didn't want to hate it. I'm a huge Chaplin fan...he's one of the reasons I love film so much. Though we all know this, I don't think it can be stressed enough how instrumental he was during such a critical time in motion picture history, and thus in world history. Obviously the entertainment industry is incredibly successfull and influential and Mr. Chaplin was a leading force in where we are today. (However I do believe that he would have been pretty disgusted with many of the antics played by Hollywood business men today and the lack of creativity compared to film's origins.)

But I digress...

As far as the actual film goes, I really did like it. I think it's a huge and very difficult undertaking to portray the life of such an important man in the movie industry in a tasteful, accurate manner. I'd say that Robert Downey, Jr. did a really great job. Personally, I'm not always a fan but he did a great job mastering Chaplin's mannerisms, especially as The Tramp. I can't believe he didn't win the Oscar ...he was nominated for the role in 1993 but Al Pacino took home the statue for The Scent of a Woman. I haven't personally seen that film but it must have been really awesome...or it could have been a political win. You'd think that the man who played Charlie Chaplin himself would have been an easy go. Again, I digress...

As far as what the film actually "looked like" I thought the sets and cinematography were really well done. For the most part I really felt like I was in the era they were portraying throughout the movie. Obviously since the film spans about 8 decades they had their work cut out for them...it was like 8 period pieces all in one and very believable as such. The difference in lighting, not just costumes or set pieces was very noticeable. I think this really helped the overall feel of the film.

Personally I was quite surprised that they didn't chronicle Chaplin's competition or the way that he handled it. Unless I missed it, Buster Keaton was not once mentioned. I mean, Keaton was one of the other huge influences during that time and it would have seemed only natural to note his existance at some point. They had a very interesting personal friendship; when Keaton's career tanked Chaplin helped him out both profesionally and personally. Chaplin also aided many other former coworkers and friends financially until they passed away. I think we missed out on that aspect of his character...

With all that said it was a very long and detailed film so I won't get into everything. I do have to say that for being nearly two and a half hours long, the pacing was spot on; I didn't get bored once. Definitely no easy feat... I really did enjoy myself watching it, it was really well done. With pieces like this though, you can't help but wonder what Chaplin himself would have thought. As an audience member who didn't know him personally I cannot attest to whether or not it was historically accurate and a good depiction. From what research I have done on his life, however I think they did a great job. I hope it's something of which he could be proud!

I want to close this post with a some of his quotes I found on imdb.com that I thought were funny and/or thought provoking. Hope you enjoy!

-The minute you bought your ticket you were in another world.
-The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
-Words are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is "elephant".
-I don't believe that the public knows what it wants; this is the conclusion that I have drawn from my career.
-Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
-Movies are a fad. Audiences really want to see live actors on a stage.
-It isn't the ups and downs that make life difficult; it's the jerks.
-Figuring out what the audience expects, and then doing something different, is great fun to me.
-I think a very great deal of myself. Everything is perfect or imperfect, according to myself. I am the perfect standard

I don't have too much to say about this film. I went in with low expectations since I'd already seen the British version and LOVED it. (seriously, it's one of my all time favorite movies) However, this version disappointed me even more than I expected.

This is a film that depends heavily on writing, but perhaps even more so on acting. The humor is definitely that of the awkward British temperament. When you "American-ize" it, it doesn't always translate well. We can't expect to hit "The Office" gold every time. I didn't think I was going to like this as much as the British version, but I thought that their impressive list of starring actors would still make it watchable. WRONG. I love a lot of these actors...Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Luke Wilson, James Marsden, Eddie Glover etc. Tracy Morgan was definitely my favorite and James Marsden was quite funny too (though I didn't feel he brought really anything unique to the role... .a lot of people could have pulled off that part. Alan Tudyk, though, brilliant.) Chris Rock and Luke Wilson however....they were just painful to watch. Painful. Chris Rock needs to figure out he can't play "serious" parts. He could have made that character much more humorous as Matthew MacFadyen did, but instead...it was just rough.

"Adaptation" wise, ehhh. The house and complete set design were very similary to the first version and I didn't feel like it fit in with these characters. Chris Rock and Martin Short played the same kind of character they always do, which didn't seem to correlate with a Victorian-style, fully decorated home. A lot of the lines were exactly the same...a lot of them. I'm not sure why this annoyed me so much, but it did. It seemed like they couldn't decide if they wanted to be completely original with the same basic story line or if they wanted to do the same film with different actors. It was weird...

There were definitely some funny one-liners...If you're looking for something light and moderately entertaining on your day off when you have nothing better to do, it might be worth watching. Might.

I had heard from a few friends that this film was going to be AMAZING. However, I was doubtful. Why you ask? Tina Fey and Steve Carell are hilarious...putting them together must make MAGIC. I do love Fey and Carell, but I was just unsure if they would have chemistry or if two great things would equal an even greater thing.

With that said, I did really enjoy the film. Plot wise, ehhhhhh. It was was VERY predictable in my opinion. However, it was definitely hilarious. I didn't feel like they got themselves into a whole lot of awkward situations...the ones we're used to seeing Carell in during The Office, but they did deliver a lot of funny one-liners. I really think that was the bulk of the film. It got a little slow sometimes as they're basically just running from bad guys for an hour and a half, but you get some good suspense-filled moments towards the end. There's a car chase that's particularly hilarious. The cab driver involved in this scene was awesome.

I don't think the plot or themes are really all that unique: A couple wishes to spice up their marriage and break up the monotony by going on an adventure but end up in a whirl-wind of trouble that leaves them thankful for what they have. Have we not seen films similar to this before? What we have not seen is enough of Tina Fey. Homegirl is just so funny. My favorite part of the film, ironically enough, is when it's actually over and they show the outtakes during the credits. It's basically just Fey and Carell ad-libbing and they are hysterical. Make sure you stay until the entire reel is finished and you'll get another little surprise....

The cast all around was solid...Mark Wahlberg, Mia Kunis, James Franco and William Fechtner were all pretty funny. Like I said, writer Josh Klausner did an ok job but props to him for letting Carell and Fey ad-lib. The director was Shawn Levy and I thought he did a good job too, but it was nothing I'll remember directing wise. I really felt like the bulk of the weight to produce a good movie fell on Tina Fey and Steve Carrell.

I'll probably go and see this film again...it was light and funny so it's definitely a good one to see multiple times.

**After a long break from posting and the encouragement of a friend, I've decided to bring the blog back! I think I'm (hopefully) going to be a tad more regular about postings from now on.

-I went and saw Kick Ass this weekend...I hope no one has high hopes for this film. I think most of us knew going in that there wasn't much to be desired especially when one of their protagonists is played by Nicholas Cage.

Unfortunately I had forgotten that little tidbit and boy was I so excited to see His Awkwardness enter the frame. Gross. Still, I had figured it would just be an easy going, entertaining movie for uncritical audience members....WRONG. It was not at all what I thought it was going to be. My perception of the movie going in (uhhh based on the SYNOPSIS...) was that it was going to be about a band of misfits fighting crime and helping those who are in bad/unfair situations. Not so much... I mean, that was the quest of the main character Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson) but there was a lot more going on in that plot. They also give you this picture that the "misfits" are on the same team. That's not even true, either. Two of the characters only butt in on Lizewski aka Kick Ass' character when he gets into a lot of trouble. The fourth "super hero" Red Mist, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse is only getting in on the action so that he can find who's sabotaging his dad's business. And he doesn't directly "fight crime" with the other two...ever...Now after that description you may be completely lost, and I apologize but there were about 1000 different things going on plot-wise at all times. Sometimes that's a good thing...when it's done well. I assure you it wasn't here.

The plot was so forced and it felt like the screenwriters couldn't decide what they wanted it to be. Was it supposed to be a quirky comedy full of awkward situations for Kick Ass? Was it supposed to be a story about love and loyalty and doing random acts of kindness? What about just a plain ol' action movie? Was it a serious revenge movie? The truth is it was a little bit of all of those things. And unfortunately, it wasn't done well. I do like meta-narratives and plots that are all twisted up but this one just didn't do it for me. It was too compartmentalized. We'd go from serious, to awkward, to funny, to angry in different scenes, but I never felt like they were intertwined or complementative. In my opinion, that needs to happen to be able to pull off all of these different ideas. This was just weird.

Casting wise, they had about a 50% success rate. I honestly don't understand WHY Nicholas Cage still has a career. With that being said, for Mr. Cage, this is one of the better things I've seen him in in a long while. He'd honestly gained back some integrity in my eyes until his last scene where I about vomited from all the corny-ness. Christopher Mentz-Plasse was another big name and I'm still undecided if casting him was a good idea. I don't really picture anyone else in that part now that I've seen it and maybe his nerdy self did add something to the part...Here's my problem: This guy is typically type cast as the dorky, awkward kid that we saw in Superbad. And truth be told, I don't know if he has the chops to do anything much more intense. This character wasn't funny at all...it was a more serious role...he wanted to be like his father and join him in the mob business. However, when you put Chris in this role he still portrays a dork because of that "adorable" listhp. It was confusing...why would this rich, yet inherently nerdy dude have any interest in being a gangster? It just didn't work for me. Speaking of listhps, I believe Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass) should have been cast instead of Daniel Radcliffe (yeah, I said it...) in the Harry Potter series. He actually has green eyes (as opposed to Mr-I-won't-wear-green-contacts-Radcliffe) and he doesn't have that annoying lisp. His character wore round HP glasses and I could totally see him as Harry.

So the one most adorable aspect of this film was the character Mindy/Hit-Girl played by Chloe Moretz. She was just precious. Sometimes I thought she was too violent for a twelve year old girl, but there you have it. That's the writer's fault, not Chloe's. I think we're going to be seeing her in many more films to come. She reveals her true name to Kick Ass at the end of the film: Mindy Macready. When she said it I laughed out loud because I thought it was a joke. When I went to look up the movie on imdb though, I saw that that really was her and her dad's last name...Did the writers not know there is a famous country singer with that name? I mean it wasn't in a context where they'd have been paying homage to or joking about her, so what's the deal?

So that's my spiel..it got me on shock value because it wasn't what I was expecting, but it really is nothing I have any interest in seeing again. If you are really dead set on seeing it, wait til it comes out on DVD...