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A Mix of Fergie and Jesus

21 Jul

The nice thing about my not having seen Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro, or Blades of Glory is that now, Step Brothers actually feels sorta fresh, and not like another lame retread of the same Will Ferrell jokes I’ve seen so many times before.

Reteaming with his Talladega costar John C. Reilly, Ferrell plays Brennan, a 39-year-old stunted growth adult who still lives with his mother. Reilly plays Dale, a 40-year-old stunted growth adult who still lives with his father. When the two parents fall in love and get married, Brennan and Dale become reluctant step brothers who fight like cats and dogs.

But they find common ground (velociraptors, John Stamos, sleepwalking, etc.) and all is well.

And then it’s not good.

And then it is again. Continue reading →

Seriously Good

19 Jul

I’m happy to report that everything you’ve heard, all that hype, is true: The Dark Knight is awesome.

More crime thriller than comic book movie, this film simply raises the game — for Batman movies, for movies adapted from comic books, for summer movies, for action movies, and maybe even for movies in general.

And that’s not even taking into account how cool it is to watch on an IMAX screen.

The Dark Knight is just one great movie. Continue reading →

Not So High

15 Jul

I wish I was more excited about The Wackness. This movie, about a New York teen who sells marijuana as a summer job and falls in love with his shrink’s stepdaughter, looked pretty cool, what with its soundtrack of 1990s hip-hop and a seemingly amusing hangdog performance by Josh Peck. Alas, the movie doesn’t live up to my own self-generated hype and it ends up being less than dope. Yes, as you may have heard, Ben Kingsley and Mary-Kate Olsen make out in one scene, but that’s mostly just a tease; the scene isn’t even necessary, and it just further emphasizes how little credibility Kingsley’s character has. There are a few good lines and a couple decent laughs, and Peck’s performance does have its moments, but overall, I got no buzz from The Wackness, and that’s why I’m giving it a C-.

Don’t Take a Chance on This

14 Jul

So … this is what it looks like when Meryl Streep is slumming, eh?

In the film adaptation of Mamma Mia!, the musical about a girl (Amanda Seyfried) who invites three men to her wedding in the hopes of finding out which one is her father (a show I’ve never seen, by the way, and have consciously avoided), Streep plays the girl’s mother, who now runs a hotel on a remote Greek island.

Oh, and the whole thing is set to the music of ABBA.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations. That’s farther than I got seeing the movie. Continue reading →

Not So Super

1 Jul

I suppose the good news is that there’s hope for the rest of us.

That’s because the bad news is Will Smith is not perfect.

His latest movie, Hancock, is one of the bigger disappointments of the season.

The concept’s great: Smith stars as sort of an anti-superhero hero. While the bad guys are shooting ’em up, Hancock is passed out drunk on a bus station bench.

When he does save the day, he causes more damage and destruction. People view him not as a good guy but as an asshole.

(Sorry, Dad. That’s what they call him in the movie.)

So when Hancock inadvertently saves actual good guy and unsuccessful PR agent Ray (Jason Bateman), the hero becomes the unwitting participant in a makeover campaign to improve his public image. Continue reading →

Hello, Wall-E!

26 Jun

The geniuses at Pixar keep on cranking out animated films, and each time they do, people think they’re kids movies.

Well, with Wall-E, they’ve made a film that might not appeal to kids all that much. And that’s fine with me.

Wall-E is a beautiful film about loneliness, love, caring for the Earth, and other grown-up topics, and it stars a robot — not exactly the kind of thing a kid can cuddle up with at night.

In addition, nearly half the film, if not more, is completely dialogue-free, which will surely make the little ones antsy. Continue reading →

My Own Movie Nation

10 Jun

Someone at Boston.com clearly likes me. How else to explain that the site’s linking to my blog again — this time to my review of The Incredible Hulk, which I saw last night. (Last time I got a link from Boston.com, it was to my MGM Grand grand opening recap. Before that, it was a link to a post about my packing and moving process.) Whoever you are over there who keeps providing the links, thanks for the traffic. And to Ty and Wesley: don’t worry, your jobs are secure. For now, anyway. [Insert maniacal laugh here.]

You Won’t Like Him When He’s Angry

9 Jun

What you want to know is this: Is the new The Incredible Hulk movie better than Ang Lee’s Hulk movie from a few years back?

Not really.

But the good news is it’s not any worse. It’s just different.

For example, the story is much better, more focused, and more faithful to the comic book source material than Ang Lee’s daddy-issues epic was.

And the first two-thirds of this film are certainly more enjoyable than most of Ang Lee’s film was.

But that’s pretty much where the good stuff ends.

Continue reading →

Silky Smooth

8 Jun

It’s not meant as damning with faint praise to say You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is Adam Sandler’s best comedy in many years.

(His best movie, of course, was Reign Over Me.)

In fact, surprisingly enough, it’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time.

How funny is it? Well, let’s just say Mariah Carey makes a cameo and even she is funny. Continue reading →

Taking One for the Team

27 May

Though my entertainment preferences might imply otherwise, I am neither gay nor female. Who cares. I still decided to take one for the team and see an advanced screening of Sex and the City.

I was never a huge fan of the show, but I’ve certainly seen my share of the episodes and have even referenced one right here on this very blog. And I guess I’ll admit that I was a little excited to see the movie. Why do I tell you all this? Well, I guess it’s so that you don’t hate me too much when I say the movie really didn’t do it for me.

If you’re a devoted Sexaholic, you’ll no doubt delight in the clothes, the men, the witticisms, and the sheer sight of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda together again. For me, it wasn’t all that. Continue reading →

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