3 more movies

More summer releases now on DVD:

30 Minutes or Less (Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride) - Predictably stupid-funny. If you watch the trailer, the trailer is pretty much what you get. Not a whole lot else to say about it since the trailer kind of says it all. :) Can't say it's a particularly good stupid-funny movie either (e.g., Hangover), but it's far better than Bad Teacher. Grade: C

Crazy, Stupid Love (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone) - This was rather delightful. The reviews for it were pretty favorable so I wanted to see it in theaters, but just couldn't get myself actually to want to see it in theaters. It was probably for the best since I saved a ton of money watching it at home on DVD and it didn't need a big screen to enjoy it. It's almost a dramedy (drama-comedy) because there are some pretty funny moments in the movie, but it's also got the sense of a drama too. It's sweet about the various kinds of love and how you can be affected by love. Each person in the movie, pretty much, experiences a different type, but mostly the movie revolves around Carell and his broken marriage to his wife (Moore). The climax I should have seen coming (one of those "didn't see that coming, but should have" moments) and was funny at the same time. I liked it. It was probably one of the better movies I've seen recently, which is kind of saying a lot. Can't say it's quite movie ownable, for me, but it's close. I just don't rewatch dramas (95% of the time) is my big problem. If it was more comedy (e.g., The Proposal), perhaps, but it's just a little on the too much side of a drama. It's good though. Grade: B/B+

Water for Elephants (Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon) - Don't watch it if you can't watch animal cruelty. There are two scenes that make me cringe and they make me cringe now just thinking about it. One you don't see, but you see the aftermath and the other is just, well, hard to watch because someone is being mean to an animal. I knew there was going to be animal cruelty in it (knew it from the book), but I still couldn't stand watching it even know I knew it was coming. Aside from the animal cruelty, it wasn't that greatly acted. I've watched RobPat in some of his films and this was one of the bigger films he's done that is not small production, non-Twilight, and Harry Potter almost doesn't count since he's in it for such a short time. So I figured I'd see it given it's based on a book (by Sara Gruen), I like Reese Witherspoon well enough, and it'd be something to see RobPat in that's different. I will say, before this movie, I didn't particularly like RobPat's acting. I find him unbelievable most times; however, as I said, this was a different sort of film so I gave it a shot. Well, let's just say I was disappointed. I still do not like RobPat's acting. I find him unbelievable and sometimes just cheesy. It was so bad, in fact, that I felt like he brought down Witherspoon sometime into the unbelievable/cheesy aspect of it. So, it was rather disappointing. My other, sort of funny, issue with the movie (and with the book) is it starts somewhat similar to Titanic. Come to think of it, it's kind of Titanic and The Notebook mashed into one that revolves around a circus. Huh. Didn't think of that till now. So the beginning and end are rather touching with the old man, but I didn't particularly enjoy the middle. Get's a C+ instead of a C because I liked the animals (especially Rosie the Elephant). Grade: C+