Entries in 2008 (62)

Sunday
24Jan2010

Seven Pounds

DateSunday, January 24, 2010 at 12:00PM

Release Year: 2008

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Review: At it's core 'Seven Pounds' has a good premise dealing with the complicated emotions of a man who no longer has the will to live.  The problem is the impact is muddled with a clumsy plot progression and dramatic missteps.  Handling a delicate thematic premise with so little subtlety completely slashed my connection with the characters and their plight.  It was if director Gabriele Muccino was trying to hammer in a frail nail with a sledge hammer, ruining what could have been poignant moments.  When these heartfelt moments come off so on-the-nose, it completely takes away from the experience.  By the end I felt myself feeling no pity for the characters, more because it felt like I was being force fed emotion rather then experiencing it.  From the opening scene there was little doubt what Will Smith's character's motivation was, or how the story would turn out.  It never veered from the predictable.  I felt like I was being baited and I wasn't going to bite. There are salvageable messages that can be taken away from the film, and the acting by Rosario Dawson saves the film in the end, but on a whole I was disappointed that such clumsy directing took away so much.
Rating: 3/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Wednesday
07Oct2009

Sex Drive

DateWednesday, October 7, 2009 at 12:00PM

Release Year: 2008

Director: Sean Anders

Review: A completely forgettable teen comedy, 'Sex Drive' never deviates from the sex comedy template.  The premise is familiar. An awkward teen is looking to lose his virginity, but the girl he likes only wants to be friends.  He turns to the internet and finds a dream girl, the only catch is that he has to go on a road trip to see her which of course is complicated when he and his two friends meet all sorts of sexually charged obstacles.  It's not that this was a completely miserable experience, but there is nothing new here.  You get exactly what you think.  Shallow, crass, humor.  Some of it hits, some of it misses, but its not going to push any boundaries or break new ground for itself.  Any one of its scenes could have been clipped from the mountain of other movies or TV shows exactly like it.  The one redeeming element was James Marsden who does play a great super intense, homophobic, older brother.  But the other acting was nothing special, which sums up the movie as a whole.  It has some laughs, but there is nothing to really get behind.
Rating: 2/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Sunday
30Aug2009

Valkyrie

DateSunday, August 30, 2009 at 12:00PM

 

Release Year: 2008
Review: Based on a true story of a Nazi resistance movement from within the German army, 'Valkyrie' is more a political suspense than a thriller. The historical context is interesting and the Nazi resistance in Germany is under reported. The true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his associates is fascinating. Unfortunately the transition of that story to film just isn't that exciting. Even though it has a standard two hour running time it seemed to drag on. For a film surrounded with such interesting material the film was fairly dull. It's obvious that it wants you to bring in a good amount of knowledge about the Nazis, which while fine, it needed to set a more distinct atmosphere. The war that was taking place around them and the atrocities of the Nazi regime seemed distant and unimportant to the film. There was a distinct feel of bureaucracy above anything else. It seems to want to be a political suspense film, which is hard enough to do when the audience ultimately knows the outcome, but is hurt even further by it continuing to kill tension with dull dialog scenes. Adding to the odd, placid, atmosphere created by the film, was the casting. The acting was fine, but casting Tom Cruise as the lead character as a Nazi makes it hard to connect to the character as a German Nazi who is doing these actions and not Tom Cruise. The handling of the transition of the character from speaking in German to English with an American accent, went fairly well, not brining much attention to it. I don't have a problem with the fact that its an English spoken film, but the casting choices definitely hurt the already lacking atmosphere in the film. I can appreciate the story its trying to convey, but it delivers it in such a mundane package that it's difficult to really enjoy.
Rating: 3/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Wednesday
26Aug2009

The House Bunny

DateWednesday, August 26, 2009 at 12:00PM


Release Year: 2008
Review: An ensemble comedy which finds Shelley(Anna Faris), a Playboy bunny who, after being tossed from the mansion because of her age, tries to find purpose again by becoming a house mother at a sorority. Basically this film is just one stereotype after another. It features fill-in-the-blank generic jokes, standard characters and, fittingly enough, the depth of a Playboy article. Anna Faris gets far to much praise for her comedic ability, which is all too one note. Her air-head, shallow, blond routine gets old pretty fast and there isn't much else to get excited about here. Just like the house bunnies it showcases, this movie is plastic, shallow and one dimensional.
Rating: 2/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
18Aug2009

Baghead

DateTuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:00PM


Release Year: 2008
Review: A film written and directed by the Duplass brothers, a duo which embrace "mumblecore", an ultra low-budget genre of films. The movie begins with the main characters, four friends, watching a screening of a film utilizing this very style. This is a genius way to introduce exactly what to expect from the film itself and how it is made. The plot focuses on the four friends who are struggling actors, who after watching the low budget film decide to lock themselves away in a cabin and write their own screenplay which they will then film cast themselves as the actors. The trip takes a terrifying twist when the horror script they are writing begins to come to life. This film starts off very strong, but the plot becomes a bit repetitive and predictable in the second half. The horror twist seemed to cheapen the movie. I liked the direction it was going better when it was just about the four friends trying to make a movie. The low budget aspect also took its toll. I can only take so many close-up shots, going in and out of focus, before it becomes annoying. The acting was a little hit or miss. I don't feel that the actors are very strong, and this showed in a few scenes. However, due to the way the Duplass brothers film, most scenes felt very natural. Improvisation is used extensively and there was a very 'real' quality to the dialog and the chemistry between the actors was strong. I like the aim of the film, but feel the story was too weak and the camera work to shaky to really enjoy.
Rating: 3/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Thursday
06Aug2009

Yes Man

DateThursday, August 6, 2009 at 12:00PM


Release Year: 2008
Review: 'Yes Man' felt forced and unoriginal since the first footage of it was released. It was hard not to watch the trailer and think "didn't Jim Carrey already make this movie?'. It has an absurd premise, a thin plot and absolutely no originality. There were some laughs, but for the most part it always went for the cheap laughs and corny physical humor. Carrey and his love interest, played by Zooey Deschanel, have no chemistry and the result is awkward, forced, scenes. This isn't the worst comedy, but it feels studio driven, with no creativity injected whatsoever. It tries to please too many audiences, takes no risks, and is completely forgettable.
Rating: 2/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Monday
27Jul2009

Inkheart

DateMonday, July 27, 2009 at 12:00PM

Release Year: 2008
Review: A surprisingly imaginative and entertaining family film, 'Inkwell' blurs the real world with fantasy by allowing book characters to be read into the real world by 'silvertounges'. Unbeknownst to him, Brendan Fraser's character Mo, is a silvertounge, who accidentally reads a villain out of the book 'Inkwell' and inadvertently reads his wife into the book. The adventure to correct this mistake ensues, which features cameos from an assortment of characters from famous literary works. It's quite possible that I like the source material more than the movie, but I must admit I had never heard of the book the film is based on. It's not at the level of the best fantasy films, but 'Inkwell' is a solid movie, that is both fun and original.
Rating: 4/5

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Saturday
25Jul2009

What Happens in Vegas

DateSaturday, July 25, 2009 at 12:00PM


Release Year: 2008
Review: As so many romantic comedies repeatedly remind us, to the point of noisome, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", and in like all the rest of the dime a dozen comedies, this movie proves that that this just isn't the case. Nothing is original in this predictable comedy. The premise is idiotic, the characters loath-full and the jokes nearly non-existent. It's not that this is a completely terrible comedy, what brings it down is its tired, familiar, plot and its inability to try anything new.
Rating: 2/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Thursday
23Jul2009

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

DateThursday, July 23, 2009 at 11:28PM



Release Year: 2008
Review: What Adam Sandler was thinking with this film is beyond me. 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan' is an uninspired, unfunny and altogether train-wreck of a movie. It was as if it were an exceptionally bad SNL skit went on for two hours. The character's were not funny and were pretty detestable all around. The jokes were immature and obvious, the physical humor childish. There is very little to say that is positive about this film. It seemed like there was no effort put into it at all. It was a complete waste of time.
Rating: 1/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
21Jul2009

Baby Mama

DateTuesday, July 21, 2009 at 11:27PM

Release Year: 2008
Review: 'Baby Momma' brings the welcome change of having two women as the leads in a comedy, and while it was a good effort, the movie felt too generic to be anything memorable. There was a lot that could have been done with the premise of surrogacy, but it always felt like they went for the easy joke rather than really pushing any boundaries. Amy Poehler tries too hard as the white trash surrogate mother, and is more annoying than funny. It was good enough to make me look forward to Tina Fey's next film, but I'd hope that this was just an awkward first film and not indicative of all her future work.
Rating: 3/5

AuthorAlex Stajos | CommentPost a Comment |
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