Billed as a couples movie about Pete and Debbie (remember the adorably dysfunctional in-laws from Knocked Up?), this holiday gift is yet another Middle Aged Loser Movie. And it's no American Beauty.
On a bright side it's classic Apatow: unknown secondary comic characters riffing, pot smoking, F-Bombing, Jew joking and so on. Those are the best parts. The thin plot is about the so-called storm of 40: bad or no sex, teenagers, parents, and other somewhat predictable 40-something problems. While ostensibly a continuation of Knocked Up, it has much more in common with Funny People, which was somewhat underrated. Another Mid Life Crisis movie, but that one had some meat to it.
Ultimately this is a star vehicle for Apatow's family, his real-life wife and kids. But the icy twig and and the annoying kids can only travel so far without some supporting characters. In this case, the supporting characters are the highlight.
* * 1/2 of 4
Pitch Perfect
Mashup Glee and Bring It On in a college movie and what do you get? A Capella music, in a Superbad Goes to College way. Even McLovin is here.
Anna Kendrick stars as a college freshman who wants to go to LA to be a DJ. The only reason she's in college is that her father is a professor and it is free. But Dad, I hate this. Give it one year and join a club... if you don't like it you can go to LA.
So in the shopping mall of matriculation that is a familiar college scene, she comes across the Bellas, who are looking for new members after an unfortunate incident at last year's contest. The motley crew is assembled, looking very Bridesmaids like. But fortunately this movie has a Farrelly brother's heart and the humor is more manufactured but yet somewhat wry. A good combination.
The music sets the movie apart. Like other fine movies with original music and 80s theme, The Wedding Singer, I found my toes tapping and interested to see how it turns out.
* * * * of 4 (highest rating)
Anna Kendrick stars as a college freshman who wants to go to LA to be a DJ. The only reason she's in college is that her father is a professor and it is free. But Dad, I hate this. Give it one year and join a club... if you don't like it you can go to LA.
So in the shopping mall of matriculation that is a familiar college scene, she comes across the Bellas, who are looking for new members after an unfortunate incident at last year's contest. The motley crew is assembled, looking very Bridesmaids like. But fortunately this movie has a Farrelly brother's heart and the humor is more manufactured but yet somewhat wry. A good combination.
The music sets the movie apart. Like other fine movies with original music and 80s theme, The Wedding Singer, I found my toes tapping and interested to see how it turns out.
* * * * of 4 (highest rating)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure
When I was 12, I tried to read The Hobbit but I could not get interested in the first part of the book. As an adult I went back to read it: I still had to press through the beginning to get into the good part.
With the first of 3 planned Hobbit movies, director Peter Jackson has made a 2:50 movie out of... the first part of the book. 113 pages into its own movie. And to watch the movie, you'd be hard pressed to identify all the action that he discovered in the book.
Actually that's an exaggeration. The movie has a very Harry Potter feel about it. In fact the character that riddles with Bilbo is straight out of Harry Potter 2. That's not a bad thing. Lots of action. It was refreshing to not see lots of gun violence, but there was still swordplay and armies streaming off cliffs. More cartoonish at most.
Interesting, a theme of the Hobbit is the British pre-WW I isolationism and how going off to war changed a whole generation in England. In that vein, the desire/action of Bilbo Baggins to go on this unexpected journey makes him a bit more heroic.
Looking forward to part 2, the Desolation of Smaug.
By the way, the book turned out to be very good.
* * * of 4
With the first of 3 planned Hobbit movies, director Peter Jackson has made a 2:50 movie out of... the first part of the book. 113 pages into its own movie. And to watch the movie, you'd be hard pressed to identify all the action that he discovered in the book.
Actually that's an exaggeration. The movie has a very Harry Potter feel about it. In fact the character that riddles with Bilbo is straight out of Harry Potter 2. That's not a bad thing. Lots of action. It was refreshing to not see lots of gun violence, but there was still swordplay and armies streaming off cliffs. More cartoonish at most.
Interesting, a theme of the Hobbit is the British pre-WW I isolationism and how going off to war changed a whole generation in England. In that vein, the desire/action of Bilbo Baggins to go on this unexpected journey makes him a bit more heroic.
Looking forward to part 2, the Desolation of Smaug.
By the way, the book turned out to be very good.
* * * of 4
Blade Runner - Director's Cut
Before Minority Report and Total Recall I and Total Recall II, I had never heard of Phillip K. Dick. Now I find out he wrote the books on which all of these movies were made. Including their granddaddy, Blade Runner.
This was one that I remember as significant but could not remember why. The initial scene of the explosive city brought it all back. Turns out this was a movie that people watched a lot over the years, a cult classic. Why? Probably because it set the standard of the dark world so followed in Batman, Total Recall, Dark Knight and so on.
There's an interesting division between the world up top, flying over, and the street level thuggishness of the below. At one level its a detective story of the search for the Replicants in the shadows. On another level, there is lots of classical imagery (King Lear, Jesus Christ). Mixed against the commercialism of the future world. I liked the commercial backdrops, particularly the old style ones of TDK, Pan Am.
Screening a bit of the theatrical cut, the narration there is not part of the Director's cut. The narration helps to understand the story but it gives it an old style Sam Spade quality.
This was one that stood the test of time. The story line drags a bit with the Replicant love/hate. But the cinematography more than makes up for it.
* * *
There's an interesting division between the world up top, flying over, and the street level thuggishness of the below. At one level its a detective story of the search for the Replicants in the shadows. On another level, there is lots of classical imagery (King Lear, Jesus Christ). Mixed against the commercialism of the future world. I liked the commercial backdrops, particularly the old style ones of TDK, Pan Am.
Screening a bit of the theatrical cut, the narration there is not part of the Director's cut. The narration helps to understand the story but it gives it an old style Sam Spade quality.
This was one that stood the test of time. The story line drags a bit with the Replicant love/hate. But the cinematography more than makes up for it.
* * *
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Few things in life are as good or better the second time around. Seeing the original Tarantino on the big screen was as good or better than the first time 20 years ago.
The remastering of the print made for an even more powerful showing of sight and sound. The famous diner scene starts things off with the unlikely group of strangers planing a heist and then cuts to Mr. White and Mr. Orange in the car after the heist gone bad. They end up at the warehouse with Mr. Pink who starts the idea of the set-up. Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?
The best part of the movie is that it is like a play, all set in the warehouse. The characters wearing the same clothes make for more focus on the players. Plus the white shirts show off the blood better.
Even having seen the movie in recent times, I was still surprised at several of the scenes. My favorite scene of Mr. Orange and the drug story is one I think of often. A charming anecdote about a drug deal gone bad, as they say. Great dialogue!
* * * * (Top 100 for sure)
The remastering of the print made for an even more powerful showing of sight and sound. The famous diner scene starts things off with the unlikely group of strangers planing a heist and then cuts to Mr. White and Mr. Orange in the car after the heist gone bad. They end up at the warehouse with Mr. Pink who starts the idea of the set-up. Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?
The best part of the movie is that it is like a play, all set in the warehouse. The characters wearing the same clothes make for more focus on the players. Plus the white shirts show off the blood better.
Even having seen the movie in recent times, I was still surprised at several of the scenes. My favorite scene of Mr. Orange and the drug story is one I think of often. A charming anecdote about a drug deal gone bad, as they say. Great dialogue!
* * * * (Top 100 for sure)
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