The following were reviewed earlier in the year by my co-contributors and I'm cleaning up the laptop. The earlier reviews are linked via the title. The theater experience seems to enhance the films for Lawyer.
Edge of Darkness - C
A deeply unpleasant and humorless journey that begs the question - why doesn't the nefarious corporation just kill Mel and get on with it? The "shocking" violence is pretty easy to spot.
Book of Eli - B
Terrific twist at the end makes up for the overly grim and bleak atmosphere. Great message about staying focused and keeping the faith.
A Prophet - B
A well made film that goes on too long and is surprisingly predictable. Could have used more of the foresight (prophetic) stuff.
A Single Man - C+
Colin Firth is good but I couldn't care less about the problems of these 3 self-absorbed people. Julianne Moore should have dialed it down a notch or two. Who would have guessed About a Boy's Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) would grow up to become anorexic gay-bait?
Date Night - C+
Plot was too ridiculous to go with, especially since the lead actors usually play down to earth simple TV characters.
Kick-Ass - C
A single great line about everyone being responsible - not just the powerful - doesn't make up for the mindless soul-crushing language and violence. Nicolas Cage is pretty good - especially when Chloe Moretz tries to rescue him. The action scenes are watchable, but couldn't be shallower.
Hot Tub Time Machine - C
A horrible message about money making everything better takes away from the mild, ridiculous fun the actors are having. Rob Corddry deserves better.
Greenberg - C-
I hate Noah Baumbach's worldview. And all of his characters. And the way he keeps dragging Wes Anderson down.
Invictus - C-
Well-intentioned but plays it way too safe. Mandela is a great role model, but this makes him look way too preachy. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
MacGruber - D
Unfunny, unnecessarily violent, over the top with its vulgarity, and oversexed. Disastrous.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
10 Quick Movie Reviews
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3 comments:
I'll agree to a B+ on Prophet, but I liked the feral natural of the film.
You're crazy on Date Night. I don't care about the plot, the film is funny and its values were so refreshing I loved it.
Greenberg is decent, and I generally hate Baumbach also. I do love Rhys Ifans and the troubles of Stiller's character.
I hate self-imposed troubles and whiny overeducated underachieving neurotic douchebags so Stiller didn't work for me.
Perhaps I'm too tough on Date Night but the last "stripper dance-off" was embarrassing (especially for Fey) and the film dropped steeply during that scene.
Interested in why Priest only thought Book of Eli was a C+. Denzel and Mila Kunis were great. Oldman did his bad guy thing. And the bleached out tan landscapes gave it a distinctive feel.
I just didn't buy that terrific twist, and i thought the view of scripture and faith were overly simplistic and, ultimately, a bit insulting. Basically, I thought it was baiting the Christian crowd. That said, it probably was more of a B- in hindsight. I really liked Tom Waits, Oldman was good, and I could watch Kunis in nearly anything.
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