Dec 30 2009

The Hangover

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviewsvelveetahead @ 3:33 pm

hangover

Four guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party. Two of them are the groom’s best friends, one a good-looking married flirt and the other a hen-pecked dentist, and the third guy is the scary brother of the bride. It is the classic set up where what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas except none of these guys know what happened. They wake up the day after they arrived with their hotel suite trashed, a tiger in the bathroom, one of them missing a tooth, a random baby, and a missing groom. They spend the rest of the time trying to figure out what happened the night before so they can find the groom in time for the wedding.

What could be a story that has been told many times before with wacky things that happen in Vegas or during bachelor parties, but there were quite a few unexpected, laugh-out-loud  moments. Everyone in it was very entertaining, including the Mike Tyson cameo, but my favorite would be Zach Galifianakis. He was so weird and awesome. I think this movie should hold up well to repeated viewings.

Rating: B+

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Dec 30 2009

Movies Opening December 30

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Openingvelveetahead @ 1:38 pm

There are no wide releases this week. They are all limited releases.

Limited Releases

The White Ribbon
The Chaser
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond


The White Ribbon
Directed: Michael Haneke
Trailer

Synopsis: In a small German town, just before the start of World War I, a bunch of accidents keep happening that at first seem like coincidence, but after a while, appear they are not.

My Take: The mystery seems intriguing and the black and white works well with it.

RT Score: 88%

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Dec 29 2009

Men Who Stare at Goats

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviewsvelveetahead @ 1:17 pm

menwhostareatgoats

Ewan McGregor stars as a reporter who gets stuck with the small, weird story assignments. He stumbles across a guy who claims he can psychically kill his hamster. He was taught by Lyn, played by George Clooney, who was part of a weird branch of the army that had “psychic soldiers” that could run through walls or kill a goat just by staring at it. McGregor’s reporter, Bob, finds Lyn and decides to interview him for a story. They end up in Afghanistan on an adventure while there are constant flashbacks to how Lyn discovered his powers and how the New Earth Army (the psychic soldiers) came into being.

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Dec 28 2009

Moon

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviewsvelveetahead @ 5:46 pm

moon

I found it very appropriate that the first film directed by David Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, would be a film about being out in space. Even though it takes place in outer space, the movie is much more character driven than a typical science-fiction film that is made these days. There are not a lot of special effects and it really focuses on Sam Rockwell, who is really impressive in the role. That isn’t a shock to me since he’s impressed me since watching him in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

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Dec 26 2009

Funny People

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviewsvelveetahead @ 5:09 pm

funnypeople

Adam Sander stars as George Simmons, a former stand-up comedian that now lives alone in a huge mansion made with his millions from making family-friendly comedies that look like a mash up between current Eddie Murphy and The Rock films. George finds out he’s been diagnosed with leukemia and is given a death sentence. He has decided he wants to get back to stand-up, but lost his knack for it, so he hires an up-and-coming stand-up, Ira Wright (Seth Rogan) to write jokes for him while also being his assistant. He realizes he’s been a jerk a good portion of his adult life and says goodbye to many people, including the one woman that he let get away when he cheated on her many years ago. Then, he miraculously gets better and decides he needs to win the woman, Laura (Leslie Mann) back, even though she is married with two kids.

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Dec 23 2009

Movies Opening December 23

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Openingvelveetahead @ 10:18 am

Up in the Air and Nine moved to wide release this week. Everyone loves Up in the Air while no one seems to like Nine.

Nationwide Releases

Sherlock Holmes
It’s Complicated
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Sherlock Holmes
Directed: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly
Trailer

Synopsis: An interesting take on Sherlock Holmes where he not only solves crimes but is also quite adept at fighting.

My Take: Guy Ritchie is an interesting director for the film. I would have almost expected him to make it a modern-day re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes, but it just has some modern-day elements to it, along with a good cast.

RT Score: 69%
RT Consensus: Guy Ritchie’s directorial style might not be quite the best fit for an update on the legendary detective, but Sherlock Holmes benefits from the elementary appeal of a strong performance by Robert Downey, Jr.

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Dec 18 2009

Movies Opening December 18

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Openingvelveetahead @ 9:26 pm

It’s all about Avatar this week so I’m not sure why anything else bothered to come out at the same time.

Nationwide Releases

Avatar
Did You Hear About the Morgans?


Avatar
Directed: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver
Trailer

Synopsis: Earth tries to take over a newly discovered planet, but doesn’t play nice with the indigenous species. The scientists want to learn by using avatars that look like the creatures while the military wants to just blow everything up.

My Take: It is supposed to be amazing looking, but the story doesn’t sound all that exciting. I think I’ll have to check it out in 3-D though to see it in the best light possible.

RT Score: 82%
RT Consensus: It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron’s singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking.

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Dec 17 2009

Amazing Race: Stealing Taxis

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TVvelveetahead @ 12:31 am

rope

Amazing Race
We’re Not Working With Anybody, Ever, Anymore!

I am shocked that IR Couple have made it to the final four. I really thought they were out a while ago when Ericka got stuck counting the bells forever. Then when they didn’t ride the bicycles on another leg of the race. They they continued on due to others making worse mistakes, which is amazing.

The teams left the pit stop in the following order:

  1. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball – 12 am
  2. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers – 12:19 am
  3. Flight Time & Big Easy – Globetrotters – 12:20 am
  4. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple – 12:22 am

Clue: Teams flew to Prague. Once there, they had to locate the Old Town Square and find an old man in a vintage Praga, which is a Czech convertible.

Sam was excited when he read where they were headed. Dan asked if they spoke Spanish. Eh? Sam said no, that Prague was a country. Eh? Everyone arrived at the airport around the same time and found the flight that would get them to Prague. While waiting for the ticket counter to open, Tetherball did some research online to figure out a vintage Praga was an old car. Meghan said they should tell everyone that they looked it up and it was a black hat or something. Their plan was ruined when the Globetrotters were looking it up themselves too, so I don’t think they bothered to tell the other two teams their dumb lie.

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Dec 16 2009

Amazing Race: Back Into the Bog

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TVvelveetahead @ 1:15 pm

09_serve

Amazing Race
We’re Not Meant For the Swamp

I first heard of Estonia while watching Encino Man. Yes, that classic movie. I didn’t think it was a country that existed anymore, but had been renamed into something else. I’m still surprised when I hear it.

The teams left the pit stop in the following order:

  1. Big Easy & Flight Time – Harlem Globetrotters – 2:23 am
  2. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball – 4:12 am
  3. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple – 4:37 am
  4. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers – 5:04 am
  5. Gary & Matt – Pinky & the Brain – 6:29 am

Clue: Teams had to cross the Baltic Sea to get to Tallinn, Estonia. Once there, teams had to figure out how to open up a door to the building of Mustpeade, the secret lair to the Brotherhood of Black Hats, which is a society of merchants that have been around for over 600 years.

Teams had to take a ferry to get where they were going. The Globetrotters arrived at the ferry station to find out that the next ferry heading to Tallinn would be leaving at 5:45 pm. Everyone would catch up! The trip would be a 16-hour trip so the teams would be very rested when they made it over to Estonia.

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Dec 15 2009

MWG: Flight of the Living Dead

Category: 2007,Movie Watching Group,Movies,Reviewsvelveetahead @ 1:07 pm

Marci has Decembers movie pick and she picked a straight-to-DVD movie about zombies. Just in time for the holidays!

flightofthelivingdead

Netflix synopsis: During a transatlanic flight, a corpse emerges from the cargo hold and lays waste to the passengers, turning them into zombies. A handful of travelers try to stop the ghoulish horde, but how do you fight the undead at 30,000 feet above the ocean? The living passengers get wildly creative in this wickedly funny, fabulously bloody gore fest written and directed by Scott Thomas and starring David Chisum, Kristen Kerr, Dale Midkiff and Sarah Laine.

RT Score 80%

Watch it and review it!

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