He’s Just Not That Into Chick Flicks

Yep you guessed it.  “He’s Just Not That Into You” was a cheesy chick flick.  While it did keep my attention with some hot numbers, like ScoJo (Scarlet Johannson), there was just not enough content.  Lots of stars come out to play for this one, too many to name.  But none of them could make this movie work, and maybe that was the problem.  I almost wish Greg Bernhardt was in this flick, as I miss his talk show!  He’s a very funny guy, and might have saved this film from obscurity, but I doubt it.  The people who made this movie approachable were Ginnifer Goodwin  and Justin Long.  These two end up getting together in the movie, but not until the end.  They meet in a bar that he manages, while she is waiting for a date that never shows.  He tells her the harsh truth about dating, and she falls in love with him.  It’s really that simple.  Well, besides a bunch of A-List stars running around in this film, and ScoJo skinny dipping…or should we say, “going rogue!”  All in all I give it a 6 out of 10.  Ginnifer Goodwin has a likeability to her that allows the movie to move forward, otherwise it might have never ended!

ScoJo “Going Rouge”

“Rachel” is a Little Too Depressing:(

 

Rachel Getting Married has some good acting in it, I won’t take that away from this film.  There are some very challenging roles, and most of the actors/actresses do a great job of making this film come to life.  The film is shot as a sort of documentary, but is a little tedious to watch this way, and is a little too long.  The topic is a tough one in general, about a very dysfunctional family who has lived through the death of family member, and the drug addictions of another.  That being the basis, you know that this isn’t going to be a lighthearted film.  It moves slow and there is a lot of angst along the way.  There are many uncomfortable moments, so if that is what director Jonathan Demme was going for, he hit the nail on the head.  I’m a big fan of Anne Hathaway, but even she couldn’t save this movie.  There was a character of note though, that I thought did an incredible job.  Mather Zickel played one of Anne Hathaway’s “12 Step Friends,” and acted great through out the movie.  I hope this guy can pick up some more roles as he has some great camera presence.  Also, Rosemarie DeWiit, the woman who played Rachel, Anne Hathaway’s sister in the film, did a great job as well.  The  interaction between characters was great, but this film was filled with so many irrelevant scenes that you could forward through all of them until there was actual dialogue, and not miss a thing.  The movie wasn’t bad, but I felt like Demme was beating around the bush, and could have arrived at his point a lot faster, and offered up more plot info along the way.  I give it a 6 out of 10. 

 

Henry Poole is OK!?

I’m not sure how I ended up with two depressing movies from Blockbuster in the same weekend, but I’m starting to feel like God is sending me a message:)  Kidding, but it is true, the two movies we watched, this being the second one on Saturday, really brought the great mood of the weekend down.  Henry Poole , played by  Luke Wilson, is about a man who is told he has a disease, and is given a limited amount of time to live.  He moves into a new house in a new area, to die a quiet death.  To his dismay, there is a little repainting/remodeling done to the outside of his place, and wallah, a picture of Jesus appears in a water stain on the freshly stuccoed exterior.  Henry Poole thinks nothing of it, but the rest of the neighborhood thinks this is a sign from the heavens, a religous miralce, and they refuse to leave him and his yard alone.  Poole takes awhile to get moving, and it’s hard to keep watching and play along if you don’t have the patience.   Wilson is a likable actor, and Radha Mitchell is really cute as well, and a great actress in her own right.  But again,  there is just not enough to keep the viewer interested.  Poole (Wilson’s character) has his faith challenged by the miracles that are happening in front of his eyes when people touch ”his” wall.  But, he doesn’t want to believe that because of God these miracles are actually happening.  He dispells each situation as a random act, and tries to make sense out of them, instead of having faith; or trusting that God may actually help him and others when in need.  Needless to say, we barely stayed tuned into this one, and it’s kind of a sleeper until the end.  I will not spoil this one for you, because if you hang around long enough for this ending, you deserve to see how it unfolds.  The basis for this movie seems like it could be a good idea, but it doesn’t come across on the big screen.  I give this a 6 out of 10.

 

"Henry Poole is Here"

Maggie Gyllenhaal goes for ther Gusto “Baby”

"Sherrybaby"

I would have to say that Maggie Gyllenhaal gave this role her best effort, but it just didn’t do it for me.  That being said, I am taking nothing away from the valiant effort she put forth for such a graphic role, and an unpleasant character.  Gyllenhaal is such an elegant, sweet actress, and this it what made it even harder to see her shooting up, and wriggling around on a bed in a dingy hotel room, with a disgusting looking ex-druggie.  Nothing about the role of Sherrybaby is glamorous, and I applaud her ambitions for tackling such an uncompromising story.  In short, Sherry (Maggie Gyllenhaal ) goes to jail for stealing to feed her drug addiction.  She gives birth to a daughter just before she goes to serve her three years in prison, and wants nothing more than to stay clean when she gets out, and mostly to get her daughter back.  She realizes that both of these tasks are much harder than previously expected, as there are temptations and obstacles at every corner.  Maybe I wasn’t in the mood, or maybe this role was just too dark for me, but it just never really took off.  Many of the sex scenes seemed unnecessary, and kept the mood hopeless throughout.  Whether the director felt such sex scenes to be important in understanding Sherry’s story, it almost seemed to make her plight feel secondary at times.  We, the audience, already understood her desperation, and could have used a little bit of light somewhere along the line, before the end just slapped us in the face.  I’m a huge fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal if you couldn’t tell already, but this movie never really got off the ground.  I have seen roles like this and all of them were hard to watch.  So I would say that it was the story, not the actress.  Does she ever get her life back together?  Does she finally gain custody of her daughter?  Does she ever get a real job, and function in society?  We never really know!?  We saw glimpses of these things, but there was not a good enough story line to keep the viewer interested.  Something was definitely missing. Only watch Sherrybaby if you are in the mood for a dark, depressing, and challenging story.  Or, if you want to see Mrs.G naked a lot:)  Kidding…5 out of 10

Baby Doll

I can’t begin to tell you about the strange, sinister, and bizarre plot that is  Baby Doll, but it’s compelling to say the least.  It first played to crowds in 1956,  and it has been causing  a bit of a stir ever since.  The amazing thing is, that I would have never even known the movie existed except for the fact that Eli Kazan directed it, and I wanted to see more of his movies after I watched “East of Eden.“  I was originally a big fan of James Dean, and so I followed the cast of characters that surrounded him, whether through acting, directing, or whatever the connection might have been.  It was deemed pretty racey for the era that it was released,  and I would have to agree that it’s very thought provoking by leaving most of the risque moments to the imagination.  Carrol Baker is literally and figuratively  a doll in this movie, and is probably what propelled it to be a hit.  She never dons less then her little nighty, but comes across as very sexy throughout.  This can be see as a problem and very taboo, because in the movie she is set to turn 18 in three days, but barely legal throughout most of it.  This marriage has been arranged by her father, with the stipulation that she cannot not have sex with her husband to be, until she is of legal age.  So the story goes that Archie Lee Meighan, played by Karl Malden is ready to take full graces of his bride when she turns of legal age, but business woes get in the way, and whoa…does this story get weird!  You can watch the rest of this big hot mess, and witness Carrol Baker in all her sexual glory, when you have time, now that it’s on DVD.  I liked this a lot for some weird reason and I am giving it an 8 out 0f 10. I would like to state one more time, that movies can be great while simplistic, and intense emotions can be created without all the nudity, gore, and violence.  Baby Doll is a fine example of what great actors and actresses can accomplish, and it doesn’t hurt that the ole’ black and white movies add such dramatic flare.

Made Of Honor, Not Bad For The Men

“Made of Honor” was actually a good date movie, and probably the most fun a guy will get out of a chick flick!  Yes, it did star Patrick Dempsey, or “McDreamy,” but he actually did a great job with this role.  He had some good supporting actors who helped him along the way, but he was very funny and had good chemistry with Michelle Monaghan.  I loved the restaurant scene where he was struck by the waiter twice, and knocked to the floor, I laughed really hard!  It also introduced me to Michelle Monaghan, who I ended up forming a major crush on by the end of the movie!  She was a cutie who played the object of Dempsey’s affection throughout.  I won’t go into the story as it’s pretty obvious from the title and the trailer, but I can tell you that if you have to watch a movie with your significant other, this would be the one.  Not my favorite type of movie, but still I’m giving it a 6 out of 10.

Step Brothers-”Call Me Dragon!”

In the beginning of the comedy Step Brothers, there is a scene where Will Farrell first meets his new, 40 year old step sibling John C Reilly.  They basically have a stand off, a stare down, and in the back ground there is a killer tune playing by LCD  Soundsystem called “North American Scum.”  The punky music really ramps up the angst between the two and culminates when Reilly states “Call me Dragon.”  To which Farrell replies “You can call me…Night Hawk.”  From that point on, you realize you might be in for some serious cheese!  You’ll either love this movie, or you’ll hate it, because it only gets more whacky as you go.  There are a lot of memorable lines in here,  but my favorite is delivered by Rob Riggle who plays “Randy,” a co-worker of Farrell’s brother.  “Brennan,” played by Will Farrell, goes to get a real job with his brother,  and meets Randy, who just can’t stand him.  Later, at an event, Randy says to him, “I don’t know what it is about your face, but god damn -holds up fist- i just want to deliver one of these right to your suck hole!”  You have to hear how he delivers that line and how Farrell just gives that straight faced, dumb founded look; that’s what makes it memorable!  Another funny line in the flick comes by way of Farrell’s real brother in the movie, “Derrick,” played by Adam Scott.  When he confronts the two step brothers in their tree house, he is taunting them, talking about his abs, and how he thinks they “want to touch them.”  After describing his workout regimen he says “I am the VP of the biggest executive helicopter leasing company on the western seaboard. I haven’t had a carb since 2004. Check these out [Points to ab muscles]!”  Like I said there are many more great lines and funny moments that made me laugh deep and heavy.  Of course, many of them were delivered by Farrell and Reilly, but that is to be expected.  I think you have to see this movie, and with that being said, I give it a 7 out of 10.

Yo Adrian! “Rocky V” A Cult Classic!?

Rocky 5, for real?

As if I needed another reason for not getting sleep lately, Rocky 5 just happened to be FREE at On Demandlast night.  So instead of getting sleep like a good little boy, I decided to press my luck.  Wow, was that just a waste of 3 hours of my life; or was that just the beginning of a love affair with possibly the worst Rocky film, and boxing movie, ever made!??  I would say the latter, but the problem lies in the fact that I actually kind of liked this terrible film! I caught myself cheering and moving with Rock at the end of this film, especially when the good ole’ theme music came on, and they were fighting in the street!  Literally!  A slow go it was, but the end had me smiling, laughing, and, yes, pathetically cheering for my boy Rocky, played by the one and only Sly Stallone.   The feel good movie of the summer?  No!  A possible cult classic?  Yes!  You’ll have to see this one for yourself to be the judge.  I would advise bringing along your favorite 6-pack and a friend, preferably one with benefits if you have that option, you’ll be in for a long haul.  Good luck!  It’s a longshot, but I’m giving this one a 7 out of 10.  Big City has to motor, but I will be back!