There is a small possibility I might manage to watch another 1 or 2 DVDs before the year is out, but it's iffy. At any rate, with these 4 reviews, my movie count is set at an ominous 66. So I almost feel like I need to watch 1 more to make it 67 or something. Considering I totally forgot about Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts), perhaps I'll make it. The Help seems to be in great demand (or simply not being returned there) and is not showing up at the RedBox I have been frequenting. So The Help might have to wait till next year. At any rate...Here's my backlog of movies I have watched. I actually reviewed two of them and then my Internet ate my blog post. Didn't have the desire to rewrite it at that time, but I suppose now is as good as any time to do them!
Friends with Benefits (Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake) - More curious than anything to watch this and compare it to No Strings Attached (Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher). I think I like Friends with Benefits just a little more. Even though the concept for both is the same (sex without the attachment/relationship with it), the concept is truly set around what the movie title is. Might be hard to understand, but FwB really is the story of the friendship between Kunis/Timberlake and how they just throw sex into it, but remain friends. They have a fun friendship to see and they obviously get along well. It's cute with the quirky things they end up doing (e.g., the flash mobs). Portman/Kutcher really is just sex and nothing more. They're old friends, but they don't have the friendship like Kunis/Timberlake have so it really is just, well, no strings attached sex. Those two differences, for me, makes the difference in which movie I enjoyed watching more. I also felt No Strings Attached was a little too "heavy" towards the end and it sort of makes sense given the way the movie is set-up. It doesn't have the same cuteness or lightness that FwB has (no clue why FwB seems longer to type than No Strings Attached and hence the acronym for one over the other). With that said, neither is particularly that great for a RomCom, but I would recommend FwB over No Strings Attached. Grade: B-
Change-Up (Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman) - So not a family movie, a female chick-flick, or anything that I expected it'd be. Well, I didn't expect it to be a family movie or a chick-flick, but I didn't think it'd be so heavily on the side of male interest comedy. There is just nothing really appealing in it for a female, which is kind of weird (I suppose) given who the two actors are. With that said, I said it's quite on the male side because the movie is all from a male's point of view, which isn't bad, but when it centers around two males switching and a married man with a family becoming single and a single man becoming a family man, there are just certain male-ishy things that come about (e.g., suddenly being single and the possibility of sleeping with your #1). However, I will say, Bateman's character does not become a total loser and realizes that he really does love his wife and loves his life and wouldn't give up it up. In addition, Reynolds's character does learn to grow up too. So, I guess it's got that, but you gotta wade through a lot of bare breasts and some foul language and, well, yeah. Wouldn't recommend to most people. Grade: C-
Warrior (Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte) - This was good. I think I like it better than The Fighter, but I can't say the acting was as good as The Fighter. The acting in The Fighter really was superb. Not to say that Warrior's acting is really bad, but it's just not on the same level. I'd say it's more B-level acting. With that said, both movies sort of had the same storyline of forgiveness and how a messed up family can come together in the end (all in the climax with the final fight). The MMA fighting was interesting to see; the story did pull at your heart; and the ending was interesting to see how the family made up. I do think this one is more action based with the drama story, whereas The Fighter really is more a drama with the action in the background. It was a little predictable too given what the trailer shows you and how the movie sets up, but I liked it. Grade: B
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace) - I do believe I enjoyed this more than the first one, which is kind of amazing; however, I might need to rewatch it first before I make that an official statement! I enjoyed how this one was more clue-hunting and game play focused than the first one. I do think this does make the movie a little more "intellectual" for an action film, but that's what I kind of enjoyed about it. I even knew to make sure I note when Holmes took interest in something and I still would forget and go "Awww..." later on in the movie. I like things like that and the replay value of this movie is just as good as the first. Plus, I'm forever going to quote, "They're dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle." Not to mention the next sentence, "Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?" So funny! Best scene ever that whole lot. I laughed so hard. At any rate, I recommend it. I'm not sure why it's not doing as well in the theater. It did seem, to be fair, a little long in certain parts and there was something a little more "rough" about this movie than the first. There is a little less intrigue than the first since you know instantly who Holmes is after and who is orchestrating everything, whereas the first is sort of puzzles each time and in this one Holmes is more playing a game and taking clues one after another. It's different, but I think it works in both movies. I think Rapace did a great job and it was nice seeing her in her outside of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo (the Swedish versions). Grade: A- (perhaps a B+)
Well, the year is almost to an end, which means it's almost time for my 2011 Movie Recap, what I'm looking forward to in 2012, and what I hope to see in 2012 that came out in 2011. The "to watch from 2011" list is sort of long, but I guess I'll see if it's truly bad or not when I figure it out (somewhere around 15 movies right now). :)
With that, time for bed!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
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+
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+
Thursday, November 10, 2011
More Movies
More movies. It's that time of year when all the summer movies I missed are now coming out on DVD for the holidays. I'm sad Red Box is uping their prices, but it still beats going to the theater...
Anyway...
Tree of Life (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, etc) - I can see why this movie you either loved or hated. I think there's a middle ground (I fall into it), but it's more to do with "Wow, that was an interesting style of a movie to watch and good acting, but boy I am never seeing this again." It does help if you learn what the movie is about beforehand because this movie is very much a movie of artistry about life. There is very little dialogue in it and when there is, it's sometimes (not always) floaty and ethereal in some sense. More like someone watching the scene and making comments/questions during it, rather than within it. There is some actual dialogue, but not much. In addition, its time line is a little skewed, but as bad as some people made it out to be. The movie has a 20 minute sequence of watching Earth come into being (that took me a little while to understand) in the beginning. It's all imagery of space, the sun, volcanic eruptions, moment of dinosaurs, ocean being populated, etc. At the end, there is about 5 minutes of Earth being consumed by the sun. The movie starts in a place that sets the tone for the adult Jack (Sean Penn) and where he is in life, but the majority of the movie is him remembering his childhood. That I did not know. I knew it was about, well, life, but I thought it centered more on the adult and it doesn't. The adult basically sets it up and finishes it, but that's about it. The acting was good, especially for a movie with little dialogue and the dialogue that was said was pretty important. I can't say I'd recommend it to everyone. It's a 2:18 hour movie that is, as I said, very artsy. I've read some places that it's considered very impressionistic and it is. It's pretty slow paced and it's not a movie you can just casually watch. You really need to sit and have your attention on it at all times or you might miss something and the movie, as a whole, is the point. The point of it, though, seems mostly to be grace vs nature and which side we as humans decide to embrace and, in the end, coming to terms (or I guess for Penn's character, forgiveness and understanding) with the the two. If it sounds like your cup of tea, go for it. If not, I wouldn't bother unless you're curious as I was. It definitely wins, hands down, for artistry in a movie this year that I've seen. However, I can't say I loved or hated it. I am glad I watched it, but there is no way I'm watching it again. :) Grade: B
Cars 2 (Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine) - Dawwww....I liked Cars 2! Not to say I was thinking I wouldn't like it beforehand, but sequels can always be questionable (even if it is Pixar). My only complaint is sometimes Mater annoyed me because he is just soooo obtuse. I know it's Mater, but there was a minute where I was just, "Gah! Why does he have to be so obtuse?!" And then it kind of goes away later. I can't say I particularly liked Cars 2 more than Cars, but it's close. I liked how Pixar managed to get in the eco thing again, but without bashing anyone's head over with it. I wasn't sure about the whole spy thing either, but I liked the way they did it. I also liked the little "mystery" they threw in there too. With that said, if a Cars 3 came out, I'd go see it. Though, next is Brave (2012) and then Planes (2013). Chris almost fainted when we were watching the DVD preview of Planes and we had no clue what it was yet (the animation for some of it looks real) until we finally figured out it WAS an animated film and Chris says, "What? Is this a new film about planes...? *pause for 30 seconds to watch the trailer* And it's called "Planes"?" End of the preview...It goes "PLANES 2013" Chris was appalled he was right and they'd be that cheesy. :P It'll be interesting, though! Now back to Cars 2... Grade: B+/A-
With that...Animated films of the year I've seen have come to...
Rio
Rango
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Gnomeo & Juliet
Cars 2
The only animation I maybe will not see before the Academy Awards is Puss in Boots ('cause of money woes). Hopefully the DVD will come out before the AA. With that said, I think Rio (Twentieth Century Fox), Cars 2 (Pixar), and Puss in Boots (Dreamworks) will be the three pictures up for the award. So, yes, I really want to see Puss in Boots! Plus, I want to see Kitty Softpaws. :P There is a chance Kung Fu Panda 2 might make the list over Puss in Boots (both by Dreamworks), but I don't think it's likely. There is also the chance they will pick another foreign film animation like last year (The Illusionist) and one of them won't get nominated. Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone) was also pretty good, but it's hard to go up against Dreamworks and Pixar and Twentieth Century Fox did an excellent job with Rio and I do like their Ice Age series too. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that Rio might have been my favorite animation this year -- just barely. Cars 2 is close on its heels. Animation wise, Rango and Hoodwinked were both excellent, but Hoodwinked was not great and Rango (to me) just doesn't quite live up to the others. Though, in ways, I think Rango had the most realistic animation of the group. Anyway, I guess we'll see in a few months if I'm right or not. :)
With that...Time to head off!
Anyway...
Tree of Life (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, etc) - I can see why this movie you either loved or hated. I think there's a middle ground (I fall into it), but it's more to do with "Wow, that was an interesting style of a movie to watch and good acting, but boy I am never seeing this again." It does help if you learn what the movie is about beforehand because this movie is very much a movie of artistry about life. There is very little dialogue in it and when there is, it's sometimes (not always) floaty and ethereal in some sense. More like someone watching the scene and making comments/questions during it, rather than within it. There is some actual dialogue, but not much. In addition, its time line is a little skewed, but as bad as some people made it out to be. The movie has a 20 minute sequence of watching Earth come into being (that took me a little while to understand) in the beginning. It's all imagery of space, the sun, volcanic eruptions, moment of dinosaurs, ocean being populated, etc. At the end, there is about 5 minutes of Earth being consumed by the sun. The movie starts in a place that sets the tone for the adult Jack (Sean Penn) and where he is in life, but the majority of the movie is him remembering his childhood. That I did not know. I knew it was about, well, life, but I thought it centered more on the adult and it doesn't. The adult basically sets it up and finishes it, but that's about it. The acting was good, especially for a movie with little dialogue and the dialogue that was said was pretty important. I can't say I'd recommend it to everyone. It's a 2:18 hour movie that is, as I said, very artsy. I've read some places that it's considered very impressionistic and it is. It's pretty slow paced and it's not a movie you can just casually watch. You really need to sit and have your attention on it at all times or you might miss something and the movie, as a whole, is the point. The point of it, though, seems mostly to be grace vs nature and which side we as humans decide to embrace and, in the end, coming to terms (or I guess for Penn's character, forgiveness and understanding) with the the two. If it sounds like your cup of tea, go for it. If not, I wouldn't bother unless you're curious as I was. It definitely wins, hands down, for artistry in a movie this year that I've seen. However, I can't say I loved or hated it. I am glad I watched it, but there is no way I'm watching it again. :) Grade: B
Cars 2 (Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine) - Dawwww....I liked Cars 2! Not to say I was thinking I wouldn't like it beforehand, but sequels can always be questionable (even if it is Pixar). My only complaint is sometimes Mater annoyed me because he is just soooo obtuse. I know it's Mater, but there was a minute where I was just, "Gah! Why does he have to be so obtuse?!" And then it kind of goes away later. I can't say I particularly liked Cars 2 more than Cars, but it's close. I liked how Pixar managed to get in the eco thing again, but without bashing anyone's head over with it. I wasn't sure about the whole spy thing either, but I liked the way they did it. I also liked the little "mystery" they threw in there too. With that said, if a Cars 3 came out, I'd go see it. Though, next is Brave (2012) and then Planes (2013). Chris almost fainted when we were watching the DVD preview of Planes and we had no clue what it was yet (the animation for some of it looks real) until we finally figured out it WAS an animated film and Chris says, "What? Is this a new film about planes...? *pause for 30 seconds to watch the trailer* And it's called "Planes"?" End of the preview...It goes "PLANES 2013" Chris was appalled he was right and they'd be that cheesy. :P It'll be interesting, though! Now back to Cars 2... Grade: B+/A-
With that...Animated films of the year I've seen have come to...
Rio
Rango
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Gnomeo & Juliet
Cars 2
The only animation I maybe will not see before the Academy Awards is Puss in Boots ('cause of money woes). Hopefully the DVD will come out before the AA. With that said, I think Rio (Twentieth Century Fox), Cars 2 (Pixar), and Puss in Boots (Dreamworks) will be the three pictures up for the award. So, yes, I really want to see Puss in Boots! Plus, I want to see Kitty Softpaws. :P There is a chance Kung Fu Panda 2 might make the list over Puss in Boots (both by Dreamworks), but I don't think it's likely. There is also the chance they will pick another foreign film animation like last year (The Illusionist) and one of them won't get nominated. Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone) was also pretty good, but it's hard to go up against Dreamworks and Pixar and Twentieth Century Fox did an excellent job with Rio and I do like their Ice Age series too. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that Rio might have been my favorite animation this year -- just barely. Cars 2 is close on its heels. Animation wise, Rango and Hoodwinked were both excellent, but Hoodwinked was not great and Rango (to me) just doesn't quite live up to the others. Though, in ways, I think Rango had the most realistic animation of the group. Anyway, I guess we'll see in a few months if I'm right or not. :)
With that...Time to head off!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Zenyatta Celebration (and a new movie)
*Sigh* This year the Breeders' Cup threw a Zenyatta Celebration at the Kentucky Derby Museum and it just sounded like loooooads of fun -- not to mention they got favors or some sort that I'm still trying to find pictures of! Here's an article from the NYT of someone who attended: http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/the-zenyatta-experience-one-year-later/
I am quite jealous and with the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA next year...I hope they do it again because even if I can't afford to attend the Breeders' Cup, I'm going to the Zenyatta Celebration! Cost $170 this year to attend all the events from 11:30am to 9:30pm. They also did "packages" for chunks of time in between (lunch was $95 (11:30-3:00), hospitality $75 (3:30-9:30 -- includes a buffet), and after party (7:30-9:30), but you might as well go the whole time, IMO, to enjoy it. Plus, they stream the Breeders' Cup. I REALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY want to go next year. I will even put on hold going to Florida for Wizarding World of Harry Potter to go. :P
At any rate...I miss Zenny and am wanting her new poster like nothing else (I hope it's cheap....!)! I hope they also make her street signs available and all the other stuff that was made available during the party. Her new web store goes up the end of this week...so...hopefully!!! Oh, yeah, LA Zoo's new carousel has a Zenyatta to ride. :) The Mosses helped fund the carousel so, in addition to the zoo animals, they added Tiago, Giacamo, and Zenyatta to the carousel. Costs $3 to ride, but all the money from the carousel go to conservation efforts for the zoo. Never managed to go to the LA Zoo when I was in Santa Barbara, but now I really want to go. ;)
Anyway, the Breeders' Cup last weekend was good. I can't say I was as disappointed as some people, but it definitely wasn't last year. In some ways that's good because I thought I was going to be ill last year and then cried when Z lost, so I guess in comparison this was just better. :P Of all the scenarios I thought about for the Classic and who won, I didn't factor in Drosselymeyer and Mike Smith winning. In a lot of ways, it was kind of therapeutic for Smith to win this year since he lost last year by such a little amount with Z. It was one of those "See that, world!" moments since he won. It makes up for Zenny's loss by just the smidgen of margins.
Anyway...movie!
Watched Horrible Bosses yesterday. It was funny in a kind of stupid way. The bosses were TRULY horrible, though. And they made it so the bosses were total jerks that they couldn't just "leave" their jobs easily and then they had the dose of reality that they'd have to go into new trades to get new jobs and the job market wasn't favorable. It had its funny moments, its stupid-funny moments, and just its stupid moments. Can't say it was as bad as some people thought, but it also wasn't great either. At least I didn't feel like I wasted 1.5 hours of my life watching it, though. :) My real complaint, though, is I felt the end was a little off. Or perhaps the part right before the conclusion. It was tied up too neatly for where the movie went, but it was okay too, I guess. Anyway, I'd give it a C. It was a good solid C.
I am quite jealous and with the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA next year...I hope they do it again because even if I can't afford to attend the Breeders' Cup, I'm going to the Zenyatta Celebration! Cost $170 this year to attend all the events from 11:30am to 9:30pm. They also did "packages" for chunks of time in between (lunch was $95 (11:30-3:00), hospitality $75 (3:30-9:30 -- includes a buffet), and after party (7:30-9:30), but you might as well go the whole time, IMO, to enjoy it. Plus, they stream the Breeders' Cup. I REALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY want to go next year. I will even put on hold going to Florida for Wizarding World of Harry Potter to go. :P
At any rate...I miss Zenny and am wanting her new poster like nothing else (I hope it's cheap....!)! I hope they also make her street signs available and all the other stuff that was made available during the party. Her new web store goes up the end of this week...so...hopefully!!! Oh, yeah, LA Zoo's new carousel has a Zenyatta to ride. :) The Mosses helped fund the carousel so, in addition to the zoo animals, they added Tiago, Giacamo, and Zenyatta to the carousel. Costs $3 to ride, but all the money from the carousel go to conservation efforts for the zoo. Never managed to go to the LA Zoo when I was in Santa Barbara, but now I really want to go. ;)
Anyway, the Breeders' Cup last weekend was good. I can't say I was as disappointed as some people, but it definitely wasn't last year. In some ways that's good because I thought I was going to be ill last year and then cried when Z lost, so I guess in comparison this was just better. :P Of all the scenarios I thought about for the Classic and who won, I didn't factor in Drosselymeyer and Mike Smith winning. In a lot of ways, it was kind of therapeutic for Smith to win this year since he lost last year by such a little amount with Z. It was one of those "See that, world!" moments since he won. It makes up for Zenny's loss by just the smidgen of margins.
Anyway...movie!
Watched Horrible Bosses yesterday. It was funny in a kind of stupid way. The bosses were TRULY horrible, though. And they made it so the bosses were total jerks that they couldn't just "leave" their jobs easily and then they had the dose of reality that they'd have to go into new trades to get new jobs and the job market wasn't favorable. It had its funny moments, its stupid-funny moments, and just its stupid moments. Can't say it was as bad as some people thought, but it also wasn't great either. At least I didn't feel like I wasted 1.5 hours of my life watching it, though. :) My real complaint, though, is I felt the end was a little off. Or perhaps the part right before the conclusion. It was tied up too neatly for where the movie went, but it was okay too, I guess. Anyway, I'd give it a C. It was a good solid C.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Movies & Other Stuff
Movies and a few TV show comments.
Bad Teacher (Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake) - Er...Yeah. I knew it was R-rated, but I so did not think it was this type of R-rated. This movie is somewhere between chick flick and a "guy" comedy (slap-sticky type). I thought it was more chick-flick and it's really not. It's like this movie was supposed to appeal to chicks and to guys (date movie?) and just doesn't quite work for either gender (in my opinion, at least). Diaz's character is a money-grubber and is engaged to this wealthy guy whose mother convinces him to call off the wedding because the mother knows she only wants his money (and spends $16k in a month). So she ends up back at her teaching job (she was there for a year) and talks trash about the guy to make it so she had an excuse to break-up with him (slept with his sister, dog, etc). She decides she needs breast implants to land a rich, cute guy and so she does all these schemes through the whole movie to make the almost $10k to get them. At any rate, I don't recommend it. Also, Timberlake really wasn't that big in the movie. He's her new conquest because his family is rich, but you don't see him a lot. He's also wimpy, kind of "sappy" and everything she's not. Segel is her "equal." Anyway, don't recommend. Grade: D
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (Animation - Glenn Close, etc) - I saw Hoodwinked so I wanted to see the second one to see how it lived up to it. Other than the interesting nursery and fairy tale scenarios and characters, it's not that great. Maybe for a younger kid (around 10), but it didn't really appeal to me. I think I liked the first one better and I didn't really like the first one either (guess who the bad guy was in the first 30 minutes). Though, it is fun seeing the nursery and fairy tale references, though. I kind of amazed myself with how many nursery rhymes I remembered and different fairy tale stories. Chris kept going, "Huh?" Like...A girl on a "tuffet" eating something in a bowl gets attacked by a spider (I forget for what reason) and he had no clue what that referenced and, suddenly, I start saying, "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her bowl of whey..." It was kind of funny because it just popped into my head! Anyway, maybe for younger kids (not too young because the evil witch is a little scary with these red eyes (mask) so 8+), but not adults unless you gotta watch it. :) Grade: C-
Something Borrowed (Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield) - On a role for unsatisfactory movies! This is a chick flick (phew), but wow...Hudson's character drinks herself to being drunk FAR too often and then you find out she's slept around and...Goodwin's character ends up getting into an affair with Hudson's fiance and yeah...No good morals in this movie at all. At least if it's a good story you might be able to get away with some of it (SOME, my goodness there was a lot of drinking), but since it wasn't that great of a story...er. Yeah. Maybe the book is better (by Emily Griffin -- and the reason I wanted to see the movie). At any rate, Hudson makes a great semi-deranged (attention seeking) best friend and Goodwin plays a good "good girl" in comparison. Acting was good, story was just not. In comparison to Bad Teacher, though, I'd watch Something Borrowed in a heartbeat (that's how bad Bad Teacher was). Grade: D
So...Fall TV shows have been interesting. So far, my favorite show that I'm watching (I'm by no means watching all the new fall shows like Pan Am and others) is Prime Suspect. It's an interesting show and good acting. It's pretty episodic right now, but I assume at some point an arch might develop after we've gotten to know the characters. I enjoy Revenge far too much. It's definitely a guilty pleasure as I don't think revenge is the answer to anything, but the acting is so good and there's just something about it that draws you in with all the duplicity and fake smiles. Anyway, I'm enjoying it and it's a close 2nd. Just started watching Once Upon a Time since it aired yesterday. So far it's interesting. Some of the acting I felt was a little cheesy, but it's interesting and an interesting concept. I'll really have to see how it is over the next few episodes, but it was interesting seeing all the different fairy tales and then connecting who they were with who they are in "our" world. Grimm starts on Friday, which is another fairy tale based TV show (think crime-drama, but with fairy tale (-like?) characters -- Grimm is named after the Grimm Brothers). We'll see how that goes, but I'll watch it. Fairy tales, of late, has really come into fad. Hoping it might permeate the books so we can get away from paranormal romances, but we'll see. If the two new Snow White movies do well in 2012 (one with Julia Roberts as the evil queen and the other with Kristen Stewart (Snow White) and Charlize Theron (evil queen)), it might just might be a new wave of fairy tale books. We'll see.
With that...I'm off to do some reading! Apple hiring seminar on Thursday.
Bad Teacher (Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake) - Er...Yeah. I knew it was R-rated, but I so did not think it was this type of R-rated. This movie is somewhere between chick flick and a "guy" comedy (slap-sticky type). I thought it was more chick-flick and it's really not. It's like this movie was supposed to appeal to chicks and to guys (date movie?) and just doesn't quite work for either gender (in my opinion, at least). Diaz's character is a money-grubber and is engaged to this wealthy guy whose mother convinces him to call off the wedding because the mother knows she only wants his money (and spends $16k in a month). So she ends up back at her teaching job (she was there for a year) and talks trash about the guy to make it so she had an excuse to break-up with him (slept with his sister, dog, etc). She decides she needs breast implants to land a rich, cute guy and so she does all these schemes through the whole movie to make the almost $10k to get them. At any rate, I don't recommend it. Also, Timberlake really wasn't that big in the movie. He's her new conquest because his family is rich, but you don't see him a lot. He's also wimpy, kind of "sappy" and everything she's not. Segel is her "equal." Anyway, don't recommend. Grade: D
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (Animation - Glenn Close, etc) - I saw Hoodwinked so I wanted to see the second one to see how it lived up to it. Other than the interesting nursery and fairy tale scenarios and characters, it's not that great. Maybe for a younger kid (around 10), but it didn't really appeal to me. I think I liked the first one better and I didn't really like the first one either (guess who the bad guy was in the first 30 minutes). Though, it is fun seeing the nursery and fairy tale references, though. I kind of amazed myself with how many nursery rhymes I remembered and different fairy tale stories. Chris kept going, "Huh?" Like...A girl on a "tuffet" eating something in a bowl gets attacked by a spider (I forget for what reason) and he had no clue what that referenced and, suddenly, I start saying, "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her bowl of whey..." It was kind of funny because it just popped into my head! Anyway, maybe for younger kids (not too young because the evil witch is a little scary with these red eyes (mask) so 8+), but not adults unless you gotta watch it. :) Grade: C-
Something Borrowed (Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield) - On a role for unsatisfactory movies! This is a chick flick (phew), but wow...Hudson's character drinks herself to being drunk FAR too often and then you find out she's slept around and...Goodwin's character ends up getting into an affair with Hudson's fiance and yeah...No good morals in this movie at all. At least if it's a good story you might be able to get away with some of it (SOME, my goodness there was a lot of drinking), but since it wasn't that great of a story...er. Yeah. Maybe the book is better (by Emily Griffin -- and the reason I wanted to see the movie). At any rate, Hudson makes a great semi-deranged (attention seeking) best friend and Goodwin plays a good "good girl" in comparison. Acting was good, story was just not. In comparison to Bad Teacher, though, I'd watch Something Borrowed in a heartbeat (that's how bad Bad Teacher was). Grade: D
So...Fall TV shows have been interesting. So far, my favorite show that I'm watching (I'm by no means watching all the new fall shows like Pan Am and others) is Prime Suspect. It's an interesting show and good acting. It's pretty episodic right now, but I assume at some point an arch might develop after we've gotten to know the characters. I enjoy Revenge far too much. It's definitely a guilty pleasure as I don't think revenge is the answer to anything, but the acting is so good and there's just something about it that draws you in with all the duplicity and fake smiles. Anyway, I'm enjoying it and it's a close 2nd. Just started watching Once Upon a Time since it aired yesterday. So far it's interesting. Some of the acting I felt was a little cheesy, but it's interesting and an interesting concept. I'll really have to see how it is over the next few episodes, but it was interesting seeing all the different fairy tales and then connecting who they were with who they are in "our" world. Grimm starts on Friday, which is another fairy tale based TV show (think crime-drama, but with fairy tale (-like?) characters -- Grimm is named after the Grimm Brothers). We'll see how that goes, but I'll watch it. Fairy tales, of late, has really come into fad. Hoping it might permeate the books so we can get away from paranormal romances, but we'll see. If the two new Snow White movies do well in 2012 (one with Julia Roberts as the evil queen and the other with Kristen Stewart (Snow White) and Charlize Theron (evil queen)), it might just might be a new wave of fairy tale books. We'll see.
With that...I'm off to do some reading! Apple hiring seminar on Thursday.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Born Pretty Store Giveaway
Just wanted to participate and let you all know that Born Pretty Store (beauty and nail stuff) is having a One Year Anniversary party and is giving away and discounting lots of stuff.
Right now, they're doing a giveaway that ends the 31st for nail stuff (mostly). You can check the link out here (hyperlink) to see how to also participate!
Upcoming movie reviews will be Something Borrowed and Bad Teacher (watching Bad Teacher tonight). Watching Hood Winked Too later this week.
In the life of me, applied to random retail jobs recently (Costco, Kohls, and Apple). We'll see how it goes -- that and my aquarium jobs still pending. *sigh* Job hunting...
Right now, they're doing a giveaway that ends the 31st for nail stuff (mostly). You can check the link out here (hyperlink) to see how to also participate!
Upcoming movie reviews will be Something Borrowed and Bad Teacher (watching Bad Teacher tonight). Watching Hood Winked Too later this week.
In the life of me, applied to random retail jobs recently (Costco, Kohls, and Apple). We'll see how it goes -- that and my aquarium jobs still pending. *sigh* Job hunting...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
USA Network Shows
Of late, I have decided I wanted to watch every original show that USA Network airs. It came after the realization that I watched 4 of their original shows on a regular basis and really liked them (Psych, White Collar, In Plain Sight, and Burn Notice). If a network has good shows and not too many of them, why not try the others?
Let’s not discuss the amount of hours it takes to watch all these series. It’d just be embarrassing for both you and me to know how many it took, especially since 5 of the 9 shows I only started watching in the last few months. Yes, I have put in a great many TV watching hours, but most of the 5 are relatively new and, therefore, low on seasons (and episodes).
I must admit, I wasn’t wrong about USA Network. USA really does have a stellar group of original shows (excluding Law & Order: CI, WWE Raw, and WWE Tough Enough – I am not interested in watching those and L&O isn’t that original given all the spin-offs). They’re all enjoyable in their own way and seem to all appeal to me (more-or-less) as a type of show I’d like to watch. I can’t say, originally, I’d watch some of them (e.g., Necessary Roughness), but I found I did enjoy them regardless.
For the sake of comparing all the shows, though, I’m going to write about each one (in no particularly order) and then rank them in some order of preference at the bottom.
Fairly Legal – A legal drama based on a legal mediator. I’ve always known what a mediator does, but I don’t think a show has ever been about a mediator before. The shows are fairly episodic and her personal issues are what carries from episode-to-episode. My main complaint about this show is that Kate’s life is basically in complete shambles: Her husband is estranged and they’re close to filing for divorce, but keep sleeping with each other; her step-mother and her do not get along at all and she’s the managing partner of the firm, she’s trying to get over the loss of her father, and it goes on. She is very much one of those personally flawed people where they tend to hurt, push, and drag the people they love through the mud while treating everyone she mediates for in a heartfelt and justice seeking manner. So, in ways, she’s just annoying, and the episodicness of the show gets a little boring too. However, I look forward to season 2 because season 1 left it in an interesting place for her personally. Grade: C+
Psych – This is a fantastic show that I have been watching for a while now. I even met the two main actors and the producer/creator. It’s a fun show that is kind of like a comedy crime drama. The main guy, Shawn, is a “psychic” (hence the name psych – which is a plain on words too), but, in truth, he is just hyperaware and quite nosey. So with his hyperawareness, he and Gus (his best friend and co-Psycher) go out to solve crimes for the Santa Barbara police as consultants. It really is a show that is sillier than it is serious, but it still has that police drama system of solving crimes. It just adds a humorous twist to it all. There are a few more “serious” episodes, which are quite good. I do enjoy this show and it doesn’t seem to get old for me. Grade: A
Suits – This is a new USA show and it’s fantastic. It’s interesting from a legal perspective, but the cast has a great chemistry and the characters are fantastically portrayed and acted. It just works. I cannot praise this show enough and look forward to the next season and hope for its continued enjoyment. This one takes place in a big law firm where, Harvey, has been promoted to senior partner and needs to find a junior associate. Mike, through a series of bad events, ends up interviewing and spilling the beans to Harvey and, at the same time, proves he’d be a good candidate. Harvey hires him, but under the knowledge that Mike does NOT have a law degree. And, there’s your “will they find out?” for the show. They solve interesting legal cases and it’s kind of fun learning about some things along with Mike. He’s got the legal knowledge (he remembers everything he reads), but he missed how to do certain things (like filing for a patent). It’s an interesting show and good. Grade: A+
White Collar – This one is a similar situation to Suits, except it deals with white-collar crimes division (hence the name) of the FBI. I really like the relationship between Peter and Neal. Peter has a lovely and supportive wife and is a good FBI cop who is tenacious and ends up catching Neal twice (three times?). Neal is very personable, charming, and handsome for your thief and conartist. On top of it, Mozzie, Neal’s old time friend and mentor, is a great quirky character. He’s likable in that geeky kind of way and you can’t have Neal without Mozzie, pretty much. The actors work well together and make a great cast. The shows are interesting too as each one basically involves a white collar crime and they have to infiltrate (usually) to get to the bottom of the crime. There is an overarching story too that builds upon each other, but also changes (so one thing gets solved and it brings up a new and different issue). It’s nice having the arches build on each other, but you also (more-or-less) complete an arch too. Grade: A
Burn Notice – Good show, but I started getting tired of it recently because it’s always he’s almost figured out who burned him or getting unburned and then it’s back to square one again or something. It’s the same thing all the time, until…this last season. Whoa! All those people I kind of wrote off before are coming back and now I’m starting to have to try and remember who people are and what happened from before because they just brought it all back to the first season! Crazy! And I kind of love it. It makes it more interesting now. I’ve always loved the episodic scenarios of helping people who are in trouble, but I’d like the big arch moving too and I feel like it’s going new places now. The cast is likable and I enjoy their chemistry too. Grade: B+
In Plain Sight – Show about the Witness Protection program of the US Marshals. It’s an interesting show and I like Mary who is a no-nonsense tough gal with a father who is a wanted man (disappears on the family) and her mother and sister are not quite stable all the time (i.e., Mary ends up picking up after them). I do like their dynamic too and they just aren’t ALWAYS falling apart. Marshall, her partner, is a great stable guy who is understanding, a little soft, but loyal. You can’t not like Marshall. The show will have a short (10 episodes?) last (5th) season coming up and then it’s going bye-bye, which is a little sad. I do enjoy the show and its ratings aren’t so bad, but USA tends to rotate shows a lot (Psych is the longest running original show for USA and it just started its 6th season). Grade: B+
Covert Affairs – Covert Affairs is about a CIA operative that goes undercover all over the world for various missions. For some reason, compared to the other shows, this one feels the most like a “fluff” show and hence has some weird appeal to it. I’m not sure why, but it does. It’s not bad and I enjoy the cast (go Auggie!!). I will say that this show has the BEST locations as she ends up somewhere in the world and they tend to shoot there. The scenery is pretty amazing and it’s one of the only shows that gets you outside of a building on a pretty regularly basis. The main character, Annie, basically has to dodge around her older sister who she lives in their guesthouse and there’s an interesting story there. Annie’s supervisor, Joan, is a female head of department and her husband is the CIA Director of the National Clandestine Service, which also makes for an interesting storyline. Grade: B
Necessary Roughness – Interesting new show from USA. Dani is a psychotherapist (finds the true root of the problem and can do hypnotizing) and finds out her husband is cheating so she files for divorce. She’s got two teenage kids and ends up being the therapist for a football team called the New York Hawkes. She’s one of those tough love types of people and the show is about the various “famous” people that come to her for therapy help to solve their problems. Her primary client is a Hawkes player named TK and, of course, the football team’s employees she interacts a lot with. The show is interesting as it touches upon her trying to juggle her two teenagers as well as her work. The show is pretty episodic, but had an interesting end so we’ll see where it goes for its 2nd season. I enjoyed it, even though I’m not a big football fan and most of it really isn’t about football. It’s more the scene than the story. The show is based off a true story/person, Dr. Donna Dannerfelser, who was a therapist for the New York Jets. I’m not 100% won over, yet, but I’ll watch season 2. Grade: B/B-
Royal Pains – Hank is a concierge doctor for the residents of the Hamptons. He used to be a great doctor in New York, but a high profile guy died after he attended to him and left someone else finish up a “routine” procedure because he went to go keep a young kid from dying. So he basically gets shunned and ends up in the Hamptons with his brother, Evan, to get him out and about (he’d been in his house moping mostly). Long story short, they end up setting up a concierge’s practice so they meet people wherever to attend to them and keep things quiet. The medical stories are kind of interesting because they’re not always “obvious,” but they’re not WAYYY out there into left field like House does too. Sometimes the issue is clear, but he has to be like McGyver to save the person. So it’s interesting. The personal dramas there are a lot of, but they’re not too bad. Grade: B
So, if you were keeping track my grades…They go in this order:
A+: SuitsA: White Collar - Psych
B+: In Plain Sight - Burn Notice
B: Royal Pains - Covert Affairs
B/B-: Necessary Roughness
C+: Fairly Legal
My personal preference is just slightly different, though…
- Suits
- White Collar
- In Plain Sight
- Psych (just the barest of margins splits In Plain Sight and Psych, they’re almost equal)
- Royal Pains
- Burn Notice (just slightly underneath Royal Pains because I got tired of the never ending burn notice thing, but now that’s it’s interesting, could swap with Royal Pains)
- Covert Affairs
- Necessary Roughness
- Fairly Legal
And...there you have it. :) I will watch all next seasons of the shows, though, and none of them are (just yet) canceled. Fairly Legal will have to change a little, though. She's just too irritating and annoying the way she stood in the first season.
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