Martin's Musings

In The Ghost Writer, Ewan McGregor plays, yes, a ghostwriter who is hired to craft the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), the former UK Prime Minister. (What? You thought folks like that wrote their own books?) McGregor’s character (who is never actually given a name) is on the clock to deliver a manuscript to the publisher in a month. As if that’s not already a challenge, Lang’s former ghostwriter has just turned up dead, the Prime Minister (clearly modeled after Tony Blair) is being accused of war crimes, and his life story is awfully suspicious. Soon enough, writing the memoir is the least of the problems the ghostwriter has to deal with.

Directed by Roman Polanski, and featuring a cast that includes McGregor, Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Timothy Hutton, Tom Wilkinson, and Eli Wallach, The Ghost Writer is a mostly engaging film. McGregor gives a great performance, the story is well told, and I was entertained throughout. That said, a few of the accents are not always convincing (Cattrall never convincingly passes for a Brit, for example, and that makes her a really weak link in the cast) and the film goes on a bit too long. I liked The Ghost Writer, but I’m only going to give it a B.

This may sound funny, but … While watching the new film Greenberg, I couldn’t help but think of The Blind Side. That latter film, and particularly the performance by its star, was surely helped by its end-of-the-year release.

Had it been released around now, would Sandra Bullock’s work have been praised as much as it was?

And by extension, would Ben Stiller have been Oscar nominated for his performance here if Greenberg had been released in November? Was Sandy’s performance that much better than Stiller’s?

I guess we’ll never know the answers, but the questions surely crossed my mind. Continue reading →

Sometimes, it’s all in a name.

Hot Tub Time Machine, like Snakes on a Plane before it, is a movie where all you need to know is spelled out right there in the title: Four guys in 2010 go to a ski resort, get drunk in a hot tub, and wake up in 1986. That’s the entire plot, basically.

John Cusack, who produced and stars, seems to be having a better time here than he did in 2012. Other laughs come from Craig Robinson, best known as Darryl from The Office, and Crispin Glover (Back to the Future).

Mostly, though, Hot Tub Time Machine is a bit of a one-joke letdown (yes, I was actually looking forward to seeing this one and was expecting good things). Continue reading →

She’s Out of My League comes from a long line of dweeb-gets-the-girl comedies, and like its predecessors, it’s got a totally unbelievable and completely predictable story arc. In this case, geeky TSA officer Kirk (Jay Baruchel) meets hot-chick Molly (Alice Eve) when she leaves her iPhone behind after going through security before a flight. He returns it to her, and much to his surprise (and the surprise of his friends and family), she’s interested in him. Will Kirk’s insecurities (and her more attractive ex) get in the way of his happiness? (What do you think?)

Alright, enough synopsis. This is not the kind of film where you get bogged down in plot details. After all, the second you start questioning things, that’s the sign that this isn’t the film for you. Rather, it comes down to casting and chemistry, and I’m sorry to say, this film doesn’t have it.

In other roles, Baruchel has been more engaging, but here, he is a guy so gawky and geeky and awkward, that you’ll find yourself really wondering, what is this girl doing going out with him? Eve sure is attractive, but that’s about all there is. Let’s be honest: No woman this good looking would ever be this open-minded and tolerant of Kirk or his crude, obnoxious friends and family. Speaking of which, all the other supporting characters don’t have much to make them likable. So, despite some decent chuckles along the way, She’s Out of My League just isn’t in the same league as, say, Knocked Up or The Girl Next Door. This isn’t a dislikable movie, but I’m still only going to give it a 6.5, which (with a slight curve) would translate to a C.

Green Zone, director Paul Greengrass’ new film, takes us back to those exciting days in 2003 when the Iraq war was just beginning and the search was on for weapons of mass destruction. (Yes, that was sarcasm.) Of course, now we know that there never were any WMDs, but for Roy Miller (Matt Damon), a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army, this is a new discovery — and he’s pissed. The film focuses on Miller’s search for an intelligence source known as Magellan, who was the person who sent the Army on its wild goose chase.

Reuniting Greengrass and Damon for the first time since their Bourne films (and Damon with Greg Kinnear, costars in the Farrelly brothers film Stuck on You), Green Zone is certainly an exciting two hours. Greengrass’ beloved shaky-cam method of filming reflects the chaos of the situation in Iraq, and he keeps the action moving from start to finish. If only the film was less underwritten. Oscar nominee (and erstwhile The Office guest star) Amy Ryan, for example, isn’t given enough to do as a Wall Street Journal reporter. And that shaky-cam stuff does get a bit nauseating. So while Green Zone is a compelling Iraq war action film, I’m only going to give it a B.

Early on in Alice in Wonderland, Alice’s father tells some colleagues, “Nothing is impossible if you believe it to be possible.”

After seeing this movie, I can now say I believe it’s possible for a Tim Burton movie to be pretty awful.

Less an adaptation of the Lewis Carroll novels than a story based on the characters in them, Alice picks up the action 13 years after Alice has returned home. Now a 19-year-old headstrong young woman, Alice follows the White Rabbit down a hole and thinks nothing of it; she believes her earlier trip to Wonderland was just a dream. Thinking she’s back in a dream, she goes through the motions, quickly reacquainting herself with the Cheshire Cat, Door Mouse, and yes, the Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp).

Since she’s been gone, Wonderland (or “Underland,” as it’s called here) has turned into a bleak wasteland, and the Red Queen (a big-headed Helena Bonham Carter) is in charge. Alice’s return means there’s a chance that things can be set right and all can be wonderful again. If only Alice herself seemed a bit more interested in helping out. Continue reading →

Click on the link for my review:

1. HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

2. TWO LOVERS

3. WATCHMEN

4. SUNSHINE CLEANING

5. DUPLICITY

6. I LOVE YOU, MAN

7. FAST & FURIOUS

8. STATE OF PLAY

9. 17 AGAIN

10. THE SOLOIST

11. X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

12. STAR TREK

13. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE

14. AWAY WE GO

15. UP

16. THE HANGOVER

17. THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3

18. (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

19. PUBLIC ENEMIES

20. BRUNO

21. FUNNY PEOPLE

22. JULIE & JULIA

23. PAPER HEART

24. IN THE LOOP

25. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

26. TAKING WOODSTOCK

27. IT MIGHT GET LOUD

28. THE INFORMANT!

29. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

30. COUPLES RETREAT

31. CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

32. A SERIOUS MAN

33. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

34. AN EDUCATION

35. THIS IS IT

36. DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL

37. THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

38. 2012

39. PRECIOUS

40. FANTASTIC MR. FOX

41. UP IN THE AIR

42. INVICTUS

43. BROTHERS

44. IT’S COMPLICATED

45. AVATAR

46. SHERLOCK HOLMES

47. NINE

48. A SINGLE MAN

49. CRAZY HEART

50. THE BLIND SIDE

51. THE HURT LOCKER

Things aren’t what they seem on Shutter Island, and neither is the movie of the same name. Shutter Island would appear on the surface to be a crack thriller: It has Martin Scorsese behind the camera, source material written by Dennis Lehane, and actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley in lead roles. Instead, this film, about a federal marshall investigating a disappearance at a mental institution off the coast of Boston, is a bit of an overly long, heavy handed mess. Nearly everything about it is overdone, from DiCaprio’s acting (and his Boston accent) to the score, which announces early on in no uncertain terms that the institution is bad news. When the plot reaches its climax, the resolution just goes on and on, as if Scorsese was trying to trap you — just like his lead character has been trapped. Shutter Island won’t go down as one of Marty’s best, that’s for sure. I’m giving it a C.