Young Adult

Saw it: In theaters

Rating: 7.5/10

I’m not really sure where to start with this movie. I’ll start off by saying that the acting was very strong, nothing to really complain about there. I didn’t like this movie because it was depressing as hell. Now I’m sure that just made some tempers flare and I may have lost some credibility because I can’t just not like a movie because it’s depressing, right? Wrong. Let’s clear something up before I go on. I don’t only like movies where everything turns out okay in the end, I don’t base my enjoyment of a movie off of how I feel at the end of it. However, this movie is somewhat of an exception. I didn’t like this movie, and it had a lot to do with how shitty I felt after watching it. Charlize Theron did a fantastic job of making me despise her character five minutes into the movie. I would have liked this movie if I had felt differently by the end of the movie, but if anything, I hated her even more at the end. I felt like this movie told the story of a shitty person who experiences different scenarios that should have helped her realize the error of her ways, but ultimately don’t have any effect on her. She’s the same terrible person at the end of the movie that she is in the beginning. She struggles to move on from the past, and by the end of the movie has a ton of reasons to but she doesn’t. That’s why I didn’t like this movie. You can kick and scream and say that a movie doesn’t have to have resolution to be good, and you’re entitled to my opinion, but I didn’t like this movie because the main character is presented with significant character flaws that still consume her personality at the end of the movie. The reason I didn’t rate this lower is because of the acting. I never once doubted any of the characters; the acting was very convincing throughout, although it’s possible that I was preoccupied with hating the shit out of most of the characters in the movie and didn’t notice any subpar acting. I strongly believe that if you’re going to make a movie depressing, there should be a reason for doing so. There should be some message, or something to think about, not just “wow this girl is really shitty.” I would summarize this movie like this, “terrible person leads terrible life, tries to do something terrible, fails, but continues being terrible.” There’s nothing to learn from that. The moral of the movie is that there are shitty people in the world, which I didn’t need to pay $12.50 and waste 2hrs of my life to find out. I applaud the cast but condemn the director for creating a pointlessly depressing film. Maybe the writer is trying to make a point about some people’s inability to grow up, or he’s taking a stab at romantic comedies that have likable characters and end happily. Either way, I still didn’t like this movie.

Abduction

Saw it: On iTunes

Rating: 4/10

Let’s be honest. This movie looks shitty, has shitty actors (for the most part), and is relatively shitty. If the acting had been better, it would have been decent. There were some cool fight scenes and good special effects but Taylor Lautner just didn’t cut it for me. Even if the supporting cast had been star-studded, Lautner would have ruined it. He’s perfectly qualified to be a successful action movie star. He’s jacked, he knows martial arts and his acting skills are passable. However he has one fatal flaw: his voice. The only way he could have sounded less intimidating in this movie is if he had inhaled a tank of helium prior to shooting each scene. I was never convinced by his acting because he always sounded like some sort of sniveling dork. If he can find a way to fix that he could have a somewhat promising career ahead of him. That’s just my opinion, I could get past the whole twilight crap and take him seriously (as an action movie actor) if he does something his voice. If he had sounded like a normal person, I would have probably given this movie a 7/10, because of its potential. Sure it was a shitty story that wasn’t very compelling, but it could have been worse. I’m afraid the director was trying to use Lautner in certain ways to appeal to teenage girls. So if Lautner finds himself some better roles, maybe he could earn some credibility in the acting world. One thing I’ll never understand about the movie is why Sigourney Weaver agreed to be in this movie. She must have seen some potential in the script but it clearly wasn’t fulfilled.

Midnight In Paris

Saw it: In theaters and on Netflix

Rating: 9.5/10

If you haven’t seen this movie, you should definitely see it. I loved this movie. To be completely honest, if I had seen it before my junior year english class, I would have been very lost and I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much. But, lucky for me, I had just learned all about F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Cole Porter so I understood most of the references in the movie. The acting was great all around and the story was captivating, what more could you ask for? I loved how everything in the movie seems so normal and natural until Owen Wilson appears to travel back in time to his golden era. I’m glad they didn’t try to explain how the time travel worked; they needed to do something sci-fy-ey but they didn’t fool around with any flux capacitors. He gets into an old car and just seems to melt into the past. Technically, this film is a romantic comedy, but it’s really only good for a chuckle here and there. It’s not hysterical, but it doesn’t try to be; it relies on more subtle wit and “ahh, I see what they’re doing!” moments, which really makes the film. Not only is this film enjoyable during the ride, it has a great message that’s really thought provoking. I think it’s safe to say that nearly everybody has felt like they were born in the wrong generation at one point or another, and this film does a great job of addressing that notion. The film insists upon living in the moment, and not getting caught up in the past. In the film, Owen Wilson gets so wrapped up in his trips to the past, he fails to notice that his wife is cheating on him with the insufferably pretentious, “sudo-intellectual” friend of hers. From Woody Allen’s directing to the cast’s acting, this movie is fantastic.

The Shocking Origin of Reel Good Reviews

So the title of this post might be a little misleading. I conceived the idea for this blog while lying in bed at 1AM one morning. I suppose I should give you an idea of what this blog is before I discuss why I started it. I’m going to write reviews for all of the movies that I see, both in and out of theaters. Each post will say how I watched the movie (in theaters, on netflix, DVD etc..), my rating, and my thoughts. I am very aware of the somewhat unorthodox nature of some of my opinions, and these reviews will be more for entertainment rather than serious suggestions. The first few will be from memory just to get the blog going, then I’ll start writing the reviews right after I see the movie. I made this blog because I love watching movies, and I do it all the time. So enjoy my reviews, you don’t have to agree with my opinions (as you probably won’t), and please don’t flame me if you disagree.

Patrick

No Strings Attached

Saw it: In theaters and on Netflix

Rating: 9/10

This movie is undoubtedly the best romantic comedy I’ve ever seen. It is a thoroughly enjoyable film with great writing and great acting (for the most part). Natalie Portman really makes the film. I didn’t give this film 10/10 because I felt that Ashton Kutcher, although great for the majority of the movie, kind of falls apart in some of the more serious scenes. Other than that he does a great job, but it’s really Natalie Portman that makes this film so much fun. She’s proved that she’s incredibly versatile as an actress. I rarely marvel at the acting in romantic comedies, as I generally focus more on the story, but here I couldn’t help but fall in love with her character and how great she was in that role. Even if this movie didn’t have as great of an actress as Portman in the female lead, the movie would have been successful regardless because it’s very well written. The humor is vulgar but mostly clever, and I was laughing hysterically even during the opening scene. I’m going to go out on a limb, and say that the resolution scene at the end of the movie is the best I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a LOT of romantic comedies…something I’m not particularly proud of). This movie is literally the perfect romantic comedy, as it has crude enough humor for most guys to enjoy, and an extremely powerful romantic ending that most girls will enjoy (that’s right, I just stereotyped men and women). I enjoyed all of the movie, because of the chemistry between Kutcher and Portman as well as their acting, the acting of the supporting cast and because of Elizabeth Meriwether’s wonderful writing.