All the people are back plus Brad Pitt’s ex-girlfriend, Catherine Zeta-Jones and need to commit a robbery in Europe.
I read the reviews about how it looked like the cast was having fun but didn’t let anyone else in on it. I thought the movie was pretty similar to the first one in that it was a goofy, caper movie that didn’t pretend to be anything more. The bits with Julia Roberts pretending to play herself were pretty funny. I found Catherine Zeta-Jones pretty annoying and could have done without her in the movie.
The other characters in the movie were almost an afterthought to George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. They had more attention in the first movie. I’m still not sure why Bernie Mac is in these movies since they always seem to ditch him midway through the movie and then have him show up again at the very end. he’s so funny. They should use him more, not less.
Grade: B-
Edward Burns if a grifter when one of his con jobs goes bad and he's indebted to Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia.
That isn't true what I wrote up there about Andy Garcia. He's in the movie, but I'm guessing I either couldn't read or the website wasn't very clear about the plot of the movie.
I enjoyed watching this movie, but it wasn't outstanding. They show you one of the con jobs right away, so then from that point on, you really do not trust anyone in the movie or anything that you are seeing. You are waiting for twists and turns and various cons going on. Of course, if the plot of the movie is about cons, then you just expect that.
It would have been nice to be surprised by the twists, but it was still entertaining to watch the movie since the all the actors are good. Dustin Hoffman was super creepy and I just wanted to punch him for the way he chewed his gum. Andy Garcia was super duper hairy but he was really good too.
Rating: B
David Cronenberg makes a crazy movie. What you say? I know it's a shocker. This time a schizophrenic played by Ralph Fiennes is released from the hospital, but maybe he isn't quite ready.
Yes, I actually watched a movie with "spider" in the title, but there were no spiders shown in the movie. Thank god! It was Ralph Fiennes character's nickname when he was a boy since he was fascinated by spider webs. Weirdo.
If you have watched any of David Cronenberg's other movies (Naked Lunch, Crash, eXistenZ, Dead Ringers) then you know he is seriously messed up and his movies are quite disturbing to watch. This one wasn't really filmed like those movies. It was different.
Ralph Fiennes was awesome as a loony man. He mumbles through most of the movie. There are times when the movie hardly had any dialogue but I wasn't ever distracted. I was always thinking about what his character must be going through at that point trying to put together what happened to him when he was young and sent to the asylum. That part is quite messed up but not in the messed up way that Cronenberg's other movies are in that there is no weird bug thing spewing stuff. That's always lovely.
Rating: A-
Bill Murray plays an American movie star in Tokyo to film a commercial. Scarlett Johansson is an American tourist accompanying her photographer husband. The two meet in a hotel bar one night and start an unlikely friendship.
I liked this movie. It moves at a nice slow pace. It isn’t a fall-down funny Bill Murray movie, so don’t expect that. It does start off with a shot of Scarlett Johansson’s butt so I’m sure Jer approved of that greatly. It is really about two lonely people at different ages in their lives, but both trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives.
The music is awesome. It’s the only movie that I have ever seen that used My Bloody Valentine in the soundtrack. The 80’s songs they sang during the karoke scenes were good too. I just loved the music in this movie. That improved it greatly, but it would have been enjoyable without it.
Grade: A
