Get Him to the Greek

I thought this movie was very, very funny. I'd like to say it was the magnificent acting, but really, I think only Russell Brand was great. It was,however, the group of actors assembled- particularly using P Diddy as a rock promoter. It was gross and silly and rude and hilarious all at once. I can see how some people wouldn't like it at all. But I laughed out loud about every 5 minutes. It's Jonah Hill's (the nebbish underling) job to get Russell Brand (the rock star) to the Greek theater in LA for a revival of Brand's rock career. The movie is a recounting of how that happens. I would say that if you liked movies like Superbad, well, this is better. So, on a rainy day, if it is still playing, go see it.

It's Complicated

Finally, a great romantic comedy about 60 year olds played by 60 year olds! Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin, and a great supporting cast of very likeable people, enter into this film with great believability and great enthusiasm. It is laugh out loud funny in a lot of places. And it is very sweet and poignant in spots. The best part of it is that it portrays people who are NOT freakish or crazy . The kids are not screaming at their parents- but they are normal, happy and emotionally stable. The parents aren't drug addicts or alcoholics (though they come close on that one). Every one of the people is likeable. After so many movies where the teenagers are obnoxious, where the parents are shrewish or abusive, and where women are weak and ineffective, this movie is a pleasant relief. Even better- the men in the audience laughed out loud at the truths in this. I can see it being something we will watch on cable over and over just to make sure we didn't miss anything. And, the cinematography is beautiful. Some of the scenes start with almost a postcard feel- they are framed so beautifully. It's a little gem of its genre. It isn't a chick flick at all. Despite it's family story, it is NOT a family film. Leave the kiddos with the sitter or park them at the Squeakquel.

A Serious Man

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you will probably find the humor in this movie if you are Jewish. And not the kind of Jewish that never goes to synagogue- or even the kind of Jewish that you became to please your husband's family. I'm talking Saturday school, Bat/bar mitzvah, glass stomping Jewish. Because there are obviously inside jokes here that merely going to synagogue with your junior high friends on Friday night will not explain. It baffled me in spots- about 20 people roared with delight while I, on the other hand, felt like I was watching a movie about Jewish stereotypes. They were all in here- the wise but obtuse rabbi, the shrewish wife, the nebbishy husband and his sycophantic brother, the smart but bored Jewish kids, the sister who saves up for a nose job- and that is just part of it. In a Coen movie, you always wait for the other shoe to drop. So this one leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next and when will someone be killed. The plot summary can easily be found on any website, but suffice it to say, it is Job without a happy ending. I feel it was worth seeing, but it may be too much of an inside joke for any non-Jewish theater goers. But if you are Jewish, you'll probably be one of the people who really can get the humor and who will say it is the best Jewish movie of all time. As an aside- the movie was made in the Minneapolis neighborhood that the Coen's grew up in around the same time as they did. Notice the set decoration. If you were alive in 1967, it will look very familiar.

Whip It

At first, I feared this would be another Ellen Page as 'cooler than hip' teenage angst movie. But within a few moments, it becomes a great, energetic, fun, girl power kind of movie. Drew Barrymore directed it and infused it with the happy kind of stuff she seems to project herself. If you have never understood the phrase "unself-conscious" regarding a movie, then you need to see this one. Not a second of it seem contrived to move the action forward. There is a sort of physical joy to these women who are in the roller derby. It's a gentler roller derby than the kind you'd see in a real professional venue-minimal blood and everyone has most of their teeth. These are the women who do it as a part time job. Of course, it seems trite in the retelling here, and it could be said you'd seen it all before. But it feels fresh and fun. Daniel Stern was my favorite as the father who is proud of his daughter who rejects beauty pageants and would rather roller skate and feel empowered by her agility and strength and not her looks. By the end of the movie, I was in love with its lightness and happiness and girliness. Everyone in Hollywood seems to be in this- in some sort of SNL guest star sort of way. Go see it.

The Hangover

The best part of this movie is any scene with Bradley Cooper in it. He has the easy charm that makes this movie work. It's like a Judd Apatow movie for adults- but because Apatow has nothing to do with this film, it is a better paced film with less frantic joke making. It is NOT for kids- there is nothing in it a child would like. So don't bring a kid. Especially because the sex scenes (at the end) are beyond explicit. Beyond. Even Alex gasped. And that takes some doin'.
Basically the movie unfolds after the bachelor parties guys wake up with the groom missing, a tiger in the bathroom, a chicken on the piano, one groomsman without a tooth and a BABY in the room. An adorable baby, too. It's not a great movie. But it is a funny movie. Funny enough.

I Love You, Man

Ummm, well, hmmmm, it IS funny. In a guy way. It is raunchy and silly and unlikely. But what makes this movie actually work is that the lead couple in the film- Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones- are actually a GOOD couple. You are rooting for them from the moment you meet them. Though the film is supposedly a bromance, but in many ways, it is a true romance in that this couple shows real respect and tolerance for one another. It isn't that there is no conflict, it is just that they really act like they love one another. The relationship between Paul Rudd and Jason Segel is pretty lame. In fact, it is ludicrous. But funny. And Segel's character is insecure and childish. But that works. Not well, but it works. Unfortunately, there were two 11 year old girls with their dad next to me- it was incredible that father did not have the good common sense to get up and LEAVE when the men were talking about masturbation. I was flabbergasted.

BOLT

I have to say, I haven't enjoyed an animated film like this since Monsters, Inc. The premise was inventive, the voice work (yes even Miley Cyrus) was done perfectly, the animation was well done, and the action moved at a good clip- not a boring moment. Animation has had some rough moments- CARS was almost disastrously boring- but BOLT is funny and witty and charming. I smiled throughout the film and laughed out loud many times. I may actually buy this DVD when it comes out so that I can watch it again and see if I missed anything. I'd say any adult with a sense of humor will love this movie. It's almost perfect. When BOLT realizes that he is really an actor, and is just a dog- well, it is priceless. The cats are wonderful- particularly the cat who is the foil to BOLT. The parody of the Hollywood film industry is sharp. Go see it.

Role Models

It's crude, it's vulgar, it's rrrr rated, it's sexist and it's very funny. There, I said it. I thought it was much funnier than Knocked Up (ugh), and much, much funnier than Superbad, and except for being much more vulgar, at least as funny as Forty Year old Virgin. I do wonder, however, how a child was allowed to act in this film. No kid under the age of 14 or 15 should be allowed to even SEE this. But the kid in this film- well, if that kid talked or acted like that in SCHOOL- CPS would take the child out of his home. That's how bad that is. It does have a message about love and acceptance- that messed up adults can be paired with messed up kids and they will see their commonalities. It's about two immature adult men who are paired with two kids as part of their community service- and they wind up learning to respect the kids as well as themselves. I found the writing to be very funny- but then, I saw several older people not laugh once. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly- but NOT for kids.

An American Carol

David Zucker, the director and co-writer of Airplane!, uses the format of Dickens' A Christmas Carol to build the plot for this satire/comedy about the commonly held and true notion that Christianity and conservatism and patriotism are under fire these days. It's trendy to hate your country in some areas. If you read a review by a liberal critic, they will pan it. If you read a review by a conservative critic, they will like it and agree with it. The audience of about 250 we saw it with on a Sunday afternoon APPLAUDED and laughed. It has a silly plot, but a heavy point. I've seen movies that derided anyone who believed in the terrorist threat to America and blamed the evil Americans. It's worth essays and books to explain the generosity of Americans and the way they hand back countries to their people rather than occupy and set up a flag. If the premise of this movie doesn't appeal to you- if you hate the military, think the war is not worth it, think Christians and/or religion is a waste, and don't like Trace Adkins, Kelsey Grammer, Leslie Neilsen, Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper or Kevin Farley (chris's little brother), then don't go see it. IF you do see it, realize that it is a movie, but it has a serious message shrouded in slapstick and some comedy. Sometimes it feels like a lecture, but maybe some people need a little lecture. I'm not the person to discourage going to see it. I felt good after I saw it. Maybe you might, too.

Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller directed this occasionally hilarious, sometimes vulgar, but well acted comedy. Just about everyone in Hollywood is in it. I'm not kidding- everyone who is male. It's a guy flick, and the guys in our viewing laughed the loudest. It is technically a movie about making a movie about making a movie. Stiller is funnier than he's been because he isn't quite so silly in this. Jack Black also reigns in some of his mugging much to the advantage of the film. Tom Cruise does a great turn as a studio mogul- and I know, you can't believe that I said something nice about Tommy Boy- but he really is a good actor. Ahem. This film is funny and crass, and definitely not for children. While there is no nudity, there is so much graphic and X-rated language that I can't imagine someone bringing a child to that. Even a 15 year old. As someone said, it's not even a third date movie. And that is saying something. I thought it bogged down in the middle, was fairly unbelievable, and needed a little more editing, but as far as comedies of the summer go- it is the best. Having sat through the puerile Pineapple Express, I can tell you this movie, while far more adult, is twenty times funnier.

Pineapple Express

Sometimes there is a film that is so bad that how it ever got produced is not just a mystery, but confounding. Pineapple Express is the name for a kind of weed, as in grass, as in marijuana. And just like the definition I just put out there, it is repetitive, mind robbing and often a waste of time. I love a good stoner flick- or a flick with a good stoner in it- like Dazed and Confused, or my all time favorite from the Atlanta Film Festival in 1972 or so- Arnold's Wrecking Company. But this movie is pure, unadultered, unfunny, poorly written crap. If you enjoy people getting hit in the balls (even the female cop gets hit in the groin), smoke copious amounts of dope, get stabbed, shot, throw up, bleed, get an ear partially shot off, all to the the slowest, most self-absorbed, marginally acted, dialogue ever written, then this will be the film for you. It is endless and boring and contrived- unfunny and pretentious. Apatow and Rogan are beginning to suffer from Kevin Costner/Jack Black syndrome- when a few good reviews and some box office convinces you that you poop gold and can do no wrong. It's a bad sign.

Sex and the City- the movie

No one was a bigger fan of the tv show that I was. And now, the movie! There's good news and bad. IF you were a big fan of the show, and if you have the emotional attachment to the characters, then this is definitely the movie for you. It's 5 years later, Charlotte has adopted her chinese baby girl, Lily, and is still happily married, Samantha is still with her younger guy out in Malibu managing his career, Carrie is about to get engaged, and Miranda is struggling with marriage and a career. It takes off from there. The sets are great, the movie is written VERY much in the same fashion as the tv show (thank the shoe gods) and the faithful can hop along for the ride. It is great to watch a movie where friendships stay firm- forgiveness is given for trespasses and women defend and protect one another. These women understand loyalty. The bad news is that Sarah J Parker has set herself up as the icon- she actually sets this story up so she can have a photo layout in VOGUE in varieties of wedding dress, while her adoring friends look on and cheer. She is so skinny, and not a soft looking skinny but a muscular, bantam chicken kind of skinny. Even with her nose thinned on the end and those Hollywood veneers, she is still not meant for glamour. She has not aged any better than you'd think, and it really is tough sometimes to believe that Big would have ever dated her in the first place. Shallow, I know. But the world is shallow. I hope this movie doesn't win an award for lighting- in some scenes,the lighting is so harsh that even beautiful Charlotte looks a little worn- and in others, the lighting is so soft that the actresses don't even look like themselves. It is hard to believe that a film of this expense has such inconsistency on something as basic as lighting and soft lens work. I'd highly recommend this film for adult women- but only if they were fans, because it won't make much sense if you haven't been familiar with the women. There is graphic sex and nudity- and that goes for males and females. The writing is as good as the tv show. If there IS a sequel, I'd see it.

Baby Mama

Since Alex and I could laugh at Amy Poehler reading the phone book, we preferred this to seeing harold and kumar. I'm not a huge fan of Tina Fey- feeling that she was probably a really mean girl in high school, therefore, not my kind of girl. It starts out as a send up of women in their late 30s who face poor fertility by succumbing to the newly developed fertility industry, and winds up as a sweet little romantic comedy. It is this bizarre sort of plot twist that detracts from the film. In the beginning, it's screwball and full of sight gags and then it slides into a straight romantic comedy. Not that it isn't funny- because it IS. Poehler looks older, but somehow sweeter on the large screen. Greg Kinnear is finally growing into his looks- no longer boyish, but charming. Sigourney Weaver does an over the top performance as the head of the surrogate mother business. Holland Taylor reprises her role as a mother, exactly like her character in Two and a Half Men. Maura Tierney, who has a beautifully sweet face, plays the sister. And one of my favs- Romany Malco (from Weeds), is the doorman. Steve Martin plays Fey's boss with a wonderfully controlled parody of a new age exec. For once, he doesn't mug his way through- he just relaxes and does it. With that cast, this movie really couldn't fail even with the huge lapses in script. It is funny, some times it is very funny. But it isn't the success it could have been.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Whoa- it isn't often that a romantic comedy has full frontal male nudity. I figure that's as good a way as any to start a review. It follows the typical romantic comedy formula from the opening scene to the credits as if it was an online stock outline where you fill in the characters and plot twists. Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) plays essentially the same character that he does on HIMYMother. But he does a very good job of being likeable and believable. Mila Kunis is adorable as always. Kristin Bell and Russell Brand might be the unknowns (at least to me) but there is a cast full of recognizable Apatow regulars. The setting is Hawaii. The story is Boy loses Girl, goes to Hawaii to recover, gets into resort where Girl is with New Boyfriend, Boy falls for desk clerk..scramble, unscramble and finis. There was ID checking at the theatre, though one stupid parent didn't get it. He walked out after the second male nudity with his 10 year old daughter. I hope they didn't give him his money back. We laughed during all of it- because it was funny. I didn't like Superbad- I thought it was very dumb and very "boy" oriented. But women and men both liked this movie and everyone was laughing and having fun. It isn't a documentary about brain surgery- it is a silly, raunchy, funny movie about a probable romatic mess. I loved it. But remember, on the old review web site I wrote a pretty good review for Deuce Bigalow, so take your chances!

Leatherheads

This movie comes within an inch of being successful. It's pleasant enough, and has some funny lines, but it suffers from bad casting in the form of Zellweger, mugging in the form of Clooney, and an inability to burst into song, which would have come in handy. It's a period piece set in the 20s, and everyone acts like it just so you don't forget. The blatant overacting is the reason WHY Clooney is NOT now and never will be Cary Grant. It isn't smooth- nothing in the film is smooth. John Krasinski is well cast in his role, at least. There is never quite enough punch, and Zellweger is hardly believable as a femme fatale with snappy wit. She is, in fact, the major problem (other than the poor pacing). How Zellweger has a leading lady career, as opposed to playing the side kick, is just not clear to me. And I'm not alone on that elevator. If anything is worse than Clooney's mugging, it might be Zellweger squinting like she lost her glasses. In every scene. And it is highly implausible that she would be noticed by all men withint a 20 foot radius. Where is Reese Witherspoon when you need her? In fact, where are the "30 something" actresses who could have carried off the Carole Lombard type of skills needed to play this role? I think, sadly, nowhere. I wouldn't make this a special trip.

The Hammer

You might ask yourself what I was doing in an Adam Carolla movie on a Friday afternoon. I was lured in by the promise of a review that said it was a funny and light comedy with plenty of real laugh out loud moments and only about 85 minutes long. BANG! Perfect. And it was hilarious. It is the usual Carolla stuff- but with a plot about boxing and love and dreams and what they mean to people who have little else. Carolla is a loveable lug and the object of his dreams is an actress named Heather Juergensen- who is a dead ringer for Lois Griffin- you know, Stewie's mom on Family Guy. I tell you, she must have been the MODEL for Lois. I digress. If you have a couple of hours, and you want to laugh and feel good and have a little fun in a movie for a change, this would be a great little movie to see. Alex thought it was very funny also. So it could technically be called a good date movie.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Just about 15 minutes into this I was looking at my watch wondering how I fast I could get to Hollywood and pour a pitcher of water on Amy Adams's head and scream at her to stop pulling the same schtick in every film. But then, like a miracle, the movie started to change and make more sense and stopped being so cutesy flibbertygibbet- it FINALLY got the ball rolling. And really, once it found its footing, it became a really enjoyable, heart felt, golly gee, sweetie pie romantic "comedy" that was smart and easy. I really liked it and everyone was smiling by the end of it. It is easy to smile at Amy Adams. She is, however, in danger of having those blue eyes get stuck in the wide open position. Hopefully she will stop playing gullible ingenues (and even Junebug was a variation on this theme) and one day play a role with some real meat on it. Frances McDormand is frighteningly au natural in this- she is indeed a homely woman who only cleans up to the level of presentable. But she is acting a real role. There is some skill other than wide eyed wonder or pouting in this for her. But it is a lovely little movie of the kind they just don't make very much any more.

Enchanted

What's not to like in this sweet and funny spoof of fairy tales gone right? It wouldn't work any other way than to cross the lines between animation and reality. Amy Adams is the strongest link in the magical chain. Her face is all innocence and charm. She never drops her pose. She sings most of the songs herself and does a lovely job. Patrick Dempsey is even more charming than Prince Charming -the better to win the heart of the lost princess-to-be (Giselle) . And speaking of Prince Charming, the hilariously camp James Marsden does a twinkling turn as the Prince. The only weak link is Susan Sarandon as the wicked witch. She seems woefully miscast- especially with her poor delivery of her dialogue. But look past that and enjoy the warmth of this movie. It had enough storyline to keep the little ones quiet in the theater, but enough sight gags and humor to keep the adults happy. It should have ended before Sarandon came on at the end as that was truly the logical moment. The ending was like the extra sequin on a costume that turns a fancy thing into something a little garish. So ignore the end, and enjoy the trip.

Dan In Real Life

Dan writes an advice column called "Dan in Real Life". He's a widower with 3 daughters- all playing typecast roles for a reason- who goes to Rhode Island for the family weekend and meets his brother's new girl (Juliette Binoche) in a book store, only to fall in love without realizing who she is. It goes on from there. Steve Carrell is really wonderful in this because the role was written for him. The story is very sweet, contrived and predictable - all those things make the movie just swell! And I mean that. It is about a family, contains no stupid political motivations, ends up the right way (oh come on, you KNEW it would), and makes people laugh out loud. It's been critiqued as being "not real life". Well, I'm sure those film critics thought A Wonderful Life, Sleepless In Seattle were ALL documentaries or something. Why should any romantic comedy be like real life? Who the hell would watch that? The semi-recent spate of crummy romantic movies (usually involving Dianne Keaton or Sarah Jessica Parker or Cameron Diaz) has almost ruined the genre. But when we watch this movie, we wish that was our wise and funny mom and dad, and that we could lose a spouse with such grace and dignity, and that our kids were rebellious without being possessed (oh okay, mine were not possesed- not at all- but you know what I mean). And that is what this movie does. The only thing it didn't have was fireworks at the end- over a scenic lake. But it was close. Alex pronounced it wonderful. And if it feels odd- that's because it feels like a PLAY and not a film. That only adds to the experience.

Superbad

Well, yet another guy flick from Apatow. I did admit I laughed in spots, but in general, I'm not sure a woman should be reviewing this film. If guys are that rude, that clueless and that gross, then maybe it's a good thing that girls stay out of their bonding groups. This is not suitable for kids under the age of 15 or so, and then it better be a pretty knowledgeable kid. Was it funny? well, yes. Was it 4 or 5 star? well, no. It was happily vulgar and childish and improbable. If you like that, and you have never grimaced in a film by Adam Sandler or looked at your watch during an American Pie, and thought Wedding Crashers was Oscar worthy, then this movie is perfect for you.