Martin's Musings

Contrary to popular belief, the new film Our Idiot Brother was not written or directed by my sister and brother-in-law. In a way, that’s a shame because Ned Rochlin, the character at the heart of the movie, is such a good-hearted, lovable guy, that it would be nice if he actually was modeled after me. But no matter. Ned (Paul Rudd) sees the good in everyone and everything, telling the truth and doing it all with good intentions. For example, he really believes a cop has had a bad day when he traps Ned into selling him marijuana. This nice streak runs counter to his siblings, who each have their own problems and live their own deluded lives. When the sisters welcome Ned into their homes and lives, he leaves each one of them changed.

As you might assume, this dramedy is the latest in a long line of summer indies featuring quirky families (see Little Miss Sunshine, among others). Like the others, it features a likeable cast, a handful of laughs, and a not-too-challenging plot. Our Idiot Brother, like its lead character, grooves along easily, and delivers its simple message of treating everyone with love and honesty in enjoyable fashion. An award-winner this is not, but Our Idiot Brother deserves to be welcomed into your family. I’m giving it a B.

So here’s how the apes came to rule the planet, according to the new film Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Sometime in the present day, a scientist (James Franco) develops a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease — one that not only restores normal brain function but improves upon it. Tests on chimps have the expected result: They get more intelligent. So these already strong beasts are now smart as well.

And while the scientist is kind, and he takes good care of one chimp in particular named Caesar, he’s the only human who does, so Caesar eventually gets mad. Sharing the drug with his fellow primates, he leads a rebellion against humankind and, well, anyone who’s seen the other Planet of the Apes movies knows the rest. Continue reading →

The premise is cringe-worthy and racially-charged: In the early 1960s, a white young woman in Jackson, Miss., interviews black housekeepers to learn what it’s really like to work for such cruel and racist families. And yet, The Help tells its story with a fair amount of love and respect, so it is not as offensive as it could have been. Much of that is due to the dignified and heartfelt performance of Viola Davis, and of course, much credit also goes to writer/director Tate Taylor, a childhood friend of Kathryn Stockett, on whose book this film is based. (Octavia Spencer, another longtime friend of Stockett’s who inspired one of the characters, also gives a notable performance.)

But love will only take you so far. While much care may have gone into the making of The Help, the movie itself will not be a winner for all audiences. It’s a “women’s picture” — which is to say not a dumb romantic comedy “chick-flick” — and I’m definitely not the target audience. I also didn’t really dig yet another story about an idealist young white woman who redeems the persecuted black community. I’m just not sure Davis or Spencer’s characters would ever have told so much to fresh-from-college Skeeter, even if she is played by the in-demand Emma Stone. So The Help, while not an awful movie, gets just a B from me. No doubt it will be beloved by many who’ve read the book, but it’s not my piece of pie.

Dave (Jason Bateman) is a married man, the father of three kids, and a lawyer. Suffice it to say, he’s settled, but with lots of obligations. His best friend Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) is perpetually single and unemployed, with all the time in the world to enjoy his life. So of course they each want each other’s life. That’s the premise of The Change-Up, a body-switching comedy from the creators of Wedding Crashers and The Hangover that actually is about as funny as you might hope it would be, given that pedigree.

Yes, you’ve seen movies like this before. But I can’t remember one that was R-rated or this funny. Credit that to a screenplay that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and a performance by Bateman that’s more fun than anything he’s done in recent years. For a change (no pun intended), he gets to loosen up and not play the straight man (as he does in movies like Horrible Bosses), and he’s great. Also, um, Olivia Wilde is in the movie and that’s a very good thing. To be sure, The Change-Up is not a smart, sophisticated comedy. It’s got its token share of poop jokes and other broad, crude humor. But it’s also got lots of laughs, and it’s easy to like. So I’m giving The Change-Up a strong B.

When I say that they don’t make movies like Crazy, Stupid, Love very often, I’m serious.

Yes, there are plenty of romantic comedies out there, some involving adults, and yes, a plot about a wimpy, broken-hearted man who seeks counsel from a cooler guy isn’t new, but too infrequently is the movie as good — as smart, as funny, as warm-hearted, as alive — as this one is.

And that’s why Crazy, Stupid, Love is one of the best movies, not just of the summer, but of the year so far. Continue reading →

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine, the creators and cast of Cowboys & Aliens explained that to them, the whole joke of the movie was in the title, so they consciously decided to play the rest of it straight and serious.

(Actually, they say it was producer Ron Howard’s idea not to make the film like a western version of Men in Black.)

Big mistake.

This action film, about an alien invasion in the late 1800s, is so serious that it’s not very fun. Continue reading →

Among the many things we can thank When Harry Met Sally… for is the not-breaking news that try as they might, men and women just can’t be friends because sex always gets in the way.

If they could, then many, many, many movies would never have been made. Among them: Friends with Benefits, a new film in which two impossibly good looking, single, emotionally detached people decide to sleep together but not date. (Yes, it’s pretty much the same plot as No Strings Attached.)

Will these two eventually get over themselves and fall in love? What do you think? Continue reading →

For some reason, I never did get into the whole Harry Potter phenomenon. I only read the first book from start to finish, and have only seen the first and third movies. On a 1-10 scale, with 1 being muggle and 10 being wizard, I’d probably be a 3. But being a pop culture junkie and a sucker for hype, not to mention an avid reader of Entertainment Weekly, I felt not just obligated to see the final film in the series, but mildly prepared — no matter what my more obsessive fan friends said. And I’ve gotta say, even without all the background or emotional investment, I still thought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was great. So there!

Epic, intense, and really violent, HP7.5 is all about what the entire series has (apparently) been building to: The showdown between Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, who has grown into a very nice actor) and Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), the evil wizard who killed Harry’s parents. Nearly the entire staff and student body of Hogwarts is on alert, and ready to defend the school and stand beside Harry. Talk about loyalty under difficult circumstances. This is no ordinary children’s movie.

I can’t pretend to appreciate HP7.5 on any level other than as a self-contained film, but on that level, it succeeds wildly. The story builds nicely, the stakes feel real (even if the whole thing’s a fantasy and we know who will win), the effects are convincing, and the acting all around is impressive. I can’t say I feel compelled after seeing HP7.5 to go back and watch the other five films I missed, but I didn’t feel lost during this movie either. This one is satisfying on its own, and definitely worth seeing, even if you’re like me and haven’t seen all the others.

Harry Potter is the boy who lived (no spoiler there), and based on how good the final film in the series is, I’m sure he’ll live on a whole lot longer. I’m giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 a B+.

Despite the fact that I work at an online company producing online content, and I’m a blogger and a tweeter, and I certainly spend more than my share of time tooling around the web, truth be told I still consider myself an “old media” guy.

It’s certainly convenient and easy to find information and read articles online, but that doesn’t compare to the tactile feeling of holding a newspaper or magazine in your hands and flipping through the pages.

Reading an article online often doesn’t come with the same design and layout, and it’s certainly not as permanent as an actual printed piece of media.

So the new documentary Page One is a movie right up my alley. Continue reading →