Jan 03 2011

A Serious Man

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 1:45 am

This movie is in some ways very typical Coen brothers movie. The characters are all a bit off and entertaining to watch, while in other ways this one is very different Coen brothers movie. Even though the characters are odd, they are much more realistic than their characters in other movies. It does live up to the “serious” in the title.

In 1967, the main character, Larry, is a professor up for tenure and thinks everything in his life is going okay until it all starts to fall apart. This flusters him greatly since he didn’t see any of it coming. While one thing after another starts falling apart around him, he starts to seek advice from various rabbis who give horrible advice.

It does seem like everything is coming into place towards the end of the movie, but then craziness starts to happen again. Then it just ends. While I thought the way No Country For Old Men just ended with no real conclusion actually worked for that movie, I don’t think it was really satisfying for this one. It just seemed like the movie stopped when it wasn’t really close to the end. I was enjoying it until that point. Then, I was just left hanging.

Grade: B

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Dec 09 2010

The Crazies

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — jimz0r @ 9:09 am

Director: Breck Eisner

Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell

A military plane carrying a bioweapon crashes near a small, Iowa town, leaking the contents into the water system.  This makes almost everyone in the town start to go crazy and homicidal while the government quarantines the infected and tries to evacuate everyone else.  In the meantime, they’re just shooting people that they think might be affected by the what-have-you.  The story follows Olyphant, his physician wife, and one of his deputies as they try to break the military perimeter without getting blown up or killed by one of their crazy, killy, neighbors.

I had not intended to watch this movie, but it was on Starz one day and I like Timothy Olyphant so I gave it a shot.  The movie is at it’s best when it sticks to being claustrophobic and paranoid.  Unfortunately, it strays into being an action movie at times for really no reason at all and that severely limits the tense atmosphere.  No one expects a movie like this to tell a super story or anything, but if it’s not going to, at least it could provide some memorable moments.  Not sure it actually did that,  though I did kinda enjoy the scene with the crazy who was stabbing people with a pitchfork in the hospital

I would have a hard time recommending this movie to anyone, though I can see where someone who doesn’t like good movies might.  I just think it’s too schizo for it’s own good and in the end, just goes nowhere.  Plus, the ending is stupid.

Rating: Two stars out of five

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Aug 29 2010

Extract

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 11:48 am

Joel is the owner of an extract company. He found some way to make extracts even better than they were originally so he has made himself a nice living. He is tired of his job, he’s tired that his wife is no longer sexually interested in him and he is pretty much tired of his life. He wants to sell his company since he doesn’t want to deal with his employees that he feels need to be treated like children to get through the work day. A big company wants to buy out his company, which makes him thrilled that he’ll be away from all of it soon. Then one of his employees gets injured on the job and the company sale is on hold until that is finished. Add on top of all of this, a grifter named Cindy has breezed into town trying to get money where she can.

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May 04 2010

Where the Wild Things Are

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 8:54 pm

I read the book when I was kid, but I don’t remember much about it beyond the pictures. That is what stuck with me over the years. I saw it with only that memory, but guessed I would enjoy it since Spike Jonze is an oddball. I wasn’t disappointed.

Max is a kid that seems to be lonely. His older sister would rather hang out with her friends than play with him. When her friends start playing a bit to rough with Max and destroys his igloo, he retaliates against her bedroom. When his mom comes home and is too busy with either, work or a new boyfriend, he acts out. After demanding dinner and biting his mom, he runs off where he finds a boat that leads him to a magical land.

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Jan 25 2010

Avatar

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 9:42 pm

The movie was hyped for months before it was released. We were supposed to be amazed at the technology. When I finally saw the trailer, I didn’t understand the hype. The story didn’t look too interesting to me and I didn’t see anything mind blowing. Maybe I was already amazed at Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. If it was 3D that was amazing, then that isn’t super exciting to me. It could be my vision being a bit off, but I don’t like wearing 3D glasses over my regular glasses. I actually like to go to theaters with big enough screens so I can get away with wearing any glasses, but I think I am missing out on some 3D action due to it. You can take all of this into account when reading this review.

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Dec 30 2009

The Hangover

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 3:33 pm

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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 29 2009

Men Who Stare at Goats

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 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,Reviews — velveetahead @ 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,Reviews — velveetahead @ 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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Oct 26 2009

Paranormal Activity

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 10:15 pm

paranormalactivity

The movie has been compared to The Blair Witch Project for a few reasons. They were both made cheaply. They were both a smash at an indie film festival (Sundance). They were both made popular by viral marketing campaigns and word of mouth. They both have the same basic premise that a tape was found and we watch the people on the video as they film what is happening to them. I believe the similarities end there since I wanted so much to like The Blair Witch Project, but didn’t find it scary. I think it could be that I don’t find being in the woods scary and I can’t fathom being lost for that long. While I haven’t ever experienced any kind of paranormal activity, hearing people describe ghost encounters or spooky houses can freak me out. I watched the trailer and thought it looked like the Ghost Hunter shows, but where they actually capture stuff on the camera instead of freaking themselves out about nothing.

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