Up In The Air

Up In The Air (another George Clooney film) is also quite excellent. It is not particularly fast paced or that laugh out loud or that serious. It is just plain old good.

Up In The Air gets two kernels for being a good solid film.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side is the wonderful true story of how football player Michael Oher got to where he is. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw do an excellent job playing the parents and Quinton Aaron played the lead very well. The movie is touching and funny and uplifting and I recommend it.

The Blind Side gets three kernels for being a well rounded and excellent film.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in the latest version of the detective. The film is noticeably directed by Guy Ritchie. I expected it to be pretty wonderful, but was rather disappointed. Some parts of the plot seemed completely unnecessary and Robert Downey Jr. was difficult to understand at times.

Sherlock Holmes gets one kernal for being a bit of a let down.

Avatar

Avatar is an amazing movie in one regard and a rather average movie in another. In terms of plot there is not much going on with the film. It is not that original or surprising in any way. However, visually the film is second to none. I watched the film in 3D and have not yet seen it in regular viewing, but I think it would still be amazing. It is definitely worth a watch.

Avatar gets two kernels for being visually amazing, but average in plot.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a Roald Dahl story made into an awesome stop animation film. Some of the voices include George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray. I would imagine children may enjoy it, but I found it rather humourous for adults as well.

Fantastic Mr. Fox gets two kernels for being very entertaining.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (abbreviated version) Jacob or Edward? That's the question. For the record. Jacob (for being young) is pretty hot. Edward is creepy looking but right for Bella. That is my opinion. I really don't even think there is any more to say.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon gets (this is really hard and if I did half kernels it would be 1.5, but...) one kernel. It did a pretty good job of depicting the book, but I just don't think it is that good.

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen (abbreviated version) is one of the many recent Gerard Butler movies. The man seems to be in everything these days, but I must say that the range of his characters are quite impressive. I mean, can you even believe that the same actor played the Phantom of the Opera, lead guy in 300, dead husband in P.S. I Love You, The Ugly Truth guy, and Law Abiding Citizen? That is RANGE!
The movie is about a man whose family is murdered and after the murders are not sentenced to the satisfaction of the husband he decides to take justice into his own hands. I really enjoyed this movie. It had cool explosions and action and death scenes, but it also brought up some moral and judicial questions that got you thinking.

Law Abiding Citizen gets two kernels - good combination of action and actual plot as well as another great performance by Butler.

The Informant!

The Informant (abbreviated version) stars Matt Damon and is amazing - in case you were wondering. I will say straight up that I am incredibly bias b/c I love Matt Damon. I thought this movie was so very funny. It is the 'based on a true story' story of the highest ranking whistle blower in US history that worked as an informant (hey, that's the title :P) for the FBI. What makes this movie so great is Damon's character is a little looney and the audience gets to hear his internal dialogue. And believe me, you want to hear his internal dialogue because it is hilarious and completely random. It was a lot like listening to a bunch of Jack Handey moments...there was something about how horrible the texture of an avocado was and who would want that in their mouth?

The Informant! gets three kernels - LOVE IT! And I am biased and lots of people would probably enjoy it but not to the extent that I did.

The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (abbreviated version) is a Ricky Gervais comedy. The title pretty much sums up the general plot - the thought of telling a lie has never entered into someone's head, until Ricky's character. The thing is, even though these people haven't discovered lying yet, does that mean that they HAVE to say EVERYTHING that they are thinking? I mean you would think that if you didn't lie you would at least just not admit stuff...but, whatever. It was fairly funny seeing what a world without lies would look like. For example, the name on the retirement home read: A Sad Place For Hopeless Old People.

The Invention of Lying gets two kernels for being fairly funny and at times even satirical, but not really that amazing.

Jenniver's Body

Jennifer's Body (the abbreviated version). Diablo Cody's attempt at a teen horror movie. Amanda Seyfried was awesome as per usual. Megan Fox played the hot girl...big surprise there. Adam Brody was incredible hot and eye liner is clearly his friend. Also, he kind of looked like Brandon Flowers, so that's a plus. Also, VMars fans will enjoy finding a co-star reunion in this movie.

Essentially the movie is about witchcraft gone awry in which Megan Fox's character turns into a male eating machine.

Jennifer's Body gets one kernel - just read a synopsis, you'll get the semi-interesting plot and it won't take as long.

A Perfect Getaway

A Perfect Getaway is an excellent movie if you are looking for a cheap thrill...or maybe just some beautiful Hawaiian scenery.

The basics of the plot are as follows: Cliff (Steve Zahn) and his new bride Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are on their honeymoon in Hawaii. They have planned to go on a hike to a secluded beach. On the way they meet a couple that they get bad vibes from and there is an awkward moment. They then learn that a couple on their honeymoon as been murdered on one of the nearby islands and it is suspected that a couple committed the crime. On their hike they meet another couple, Nick (Timothy Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez) who, for various reasons, they also find to be a little suspect. As the tension has seemingly got as bad as possible a police helicopter comes in and arrests the bad vibes couple Cliff and Cydney met on the way. This temporarily relaxes the remaining two couples...that is until the twists and turns really begin.
Plot twist written in white. Hi-light it to see. Through the video camera that Cliff and Cydney have been carrying around, Gina sees that the two are not who they say they are. They were the ones that murdered the honeymoon couple and then took their identities. By this time Cliff has already pulled a gun on Nick, but we have already been told a few times that Nick is REALLY hard to kill. After a bit of a standoff with the four of them the police are called by Cydney who you believe is going to accuse Gina and Nick to be the real killers. At the last minute she admits that Cliff is the one behind everything and it is revealed that he is the guy that Cydney told Gina about in a story where she broke character and actually talked about her life...a guy that is very messed up and dragged Cydney down for a long time. Nick and Gina get their happy ending.
Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It is true that I had fairly low expectations so maybe they were pretty easy to blow away, but the movie did it. I thought it had enough suspense/action moments and not all of the twists and turns were that obvious to me. There was also a nice about of comedy.
A Perfect Getaway gets two kernels - cheap thrill with some comedy that exceeded expectations.

My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper, the cry your eyes out movie based on the book of the same name.

I have not read the book so I can not compare the two (though I have read up on some of the differences). I can say that the movie is pretty good. I went to it with some friends, kleenex in pocket, and we prepared to cry over the sad cancer story.

While nothing was particularly surprising in the movie (except maybe that I didn't cry as much as others or as much as I thought I would) it was enjoyable to watch. Enjoyable in the sense that it was incredibly sad and well acted. Cameron Diaz played the mom who just couldn't accept her daughter's fate. Sofia Vassilieva, who played the dying daughter Kate, was also really good in her role. Of course Abigail Breslin was excellent as ever.

My Sister's Keeper gets two stars - a family tragedy that is enjoyable to watch but not overly original.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds takes place a long time ago...in nazi-occupied France. It is Tarantino's latest work and it is awesomeness in a movie. I wouldn't call myself a fan of Tarantino, in case you were wondering, for the simple reason that I have not really seen any of his movies (I know, I suck, I should fix it, whatever). I have seen Inglourious Basterds though (twice even) and me likey.

I don't really want to get into the plot too much because I don't want to ruin it and it might get complex and confusing. Basically there are two plots that eventually come together. In one, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a group of Jewish-American soldiers who are in the nazi killing business. In the other, a Jewish survivor, Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) plots some revenge.

All of the acting is excellent. Laurent does a great job at being sympathetic. Christoph Waltz, as Col. Hans Landa, is wonderfully evil and crazy. And Pitt makes an excellent crazy accent guy. His accent was so wonderful and it pretty much caught me off guard every time he spoke.

There were some typical Tarantino death scenes...or what I have been told are typical Taratino death scenes, but I didn't find it overly violent. I thought it had a great balance between sad, funny, and violence.

Inglourious Basterds gets three kernels - simply wonderful.

Julia & Julia

Julie & Julia is a really entertaining movie...or should I say movies? Amy Adams plays Julie Powell. A woman in a job that gets her down living in an apartment that gets her down. The only thing she finds enjoyable is cooking. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child. A woman who finds herself in France (b/c of her husband's job) with nothing to keep her busy except for food. Julie decides to cook her way through Julia Child's cook book to get her through a year of her life. Julia decides to take cooking classes and finds her true passion.

The movie follows the story of the two women. Julie, over her year of cooking and blogging and finally living her life. Julia, over many years of cooking and try to write her cookbook that would eventually inspire so many.

Both Adams and Streep to a great job at endearing themselves to the audience. Stanley Tucci also did an excellent job at playing Paul Child.

Julie & Julia gets three kernels - entertaining on many levels.

District 9

District 9 - I only barely knew what this movie was about before I went to it. I learned that it was about aliens who came to earth and were living in kind of an alien ghetto. That is all I knew. The concept is kind of neat. A ship full of aliens ended up over Johannesburg twenty years earlier (than the movie). A company, I guess you would call it, took control and created a neighbourhood for the aliens. It turned into kind of a slum city with a weird sort of hierarchy and black-market (for things like cat food...a delicacy, don't you know). When the movie picks up, the aliens need to be moved to a different area...a more spacious kind of city, which in reality is a concentration camp.

Wikus, pretty much the main character along with one of the aliens, is in charge of the relocation. The rest of the plot I will put under white...hilite to read. Wikus accidentally infects himself with a black substance that is essentially turning him into one of the aliens. The substance was supposed to be used as fuel to get the ship going so they could return to home. The company kidnapped Wikus to perform experiments on him and after escaping he teams up with the alien. They form a friendship out of necessity and that's about all I'll say.

Now to the reaction/thoughts part of the movie. I found that besides the beginning, the pace of the movie did not vary at all. As a result, it kind of felt 5 hours long! Not so fun. It was pretty much just gore and death and shooting and vapourizing. There were a lot of disgusting moments in this movie.

District 9 gets one kernel - could have been a really cool movie if the story had had more depth, but it was just not enjoyable to watch at all.

Land of the Lost

[I have put off posting on the last three movies I've seen. As a result they will probably be shorter and less detailed because I can't find my notes.]

Land of the Lost is a movie that I have pretty much nothing to say about. You should know that I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan. I do like a lot of his movies, but I do not like everything he does. This movie falls into the not like side of his work. It is mildly entertaining, but I do not feel that I had a lot of enjoyment from it.

Essentially, Dr. Rick Marshall believes that travel through space and time is the key to science. He has found a way to go through a space-time vortex and as a result finds himself in a world of very freaky things (along with this two co-stars). Hilarity is supposed to ensue, instead the occasional chuckle ensues.

Land of the Lost gets one kernel - I am glad I only paid $2 to see this movie though Will Ferrell fans may like it a whole lot more.

Public Enemies

Public Enemies is based on the true story of John Dillinger (and other public enemies) and the efforts to bring them to justice, led by Melvin Purvis. Some time has passed since I've seen this movie, and while I still feel like it was pretty good, I also think that there were some flaws. It seems to me that there were just too many characters. Some of them you got to know briefly and others were around for quite a while, but it was difficult to remember their name because so many were flying around in the story.

Johnny Depp did do a good job portraying Dillinger. Marion Cotillard, in her role as Billie Frechette, was also very good. Christian Bale was perhaps a little forgettable as Melvin Purvis. I think a number of people could have done the role just as well or better. I wish the plot had allowed for more depth into the character of Purvis, as he is so important but we really know nothing about him.

Public Enemies gets two kernels - pretty good movie with good acting, but something keeping it from being great.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is actually pretty good. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this movie, but it was fairly entertaining. Matthew McConaughey, who plays Connor Mead, is obviously good at playing the jerk that sleeps with as many women as possible but is actually a nice guy deep down. We've seen him do it a dozen times before. The main love interest, Jenny Perotti, is played by Jennifer Garner. Like several of her other roles, Jennifer plays a strong independant woman who is quite admirable.

The plot to this movie is essentially this; Connor Mead is a womanizer. He goes home for his brother's wedding and finds the ghost of his uncle, played by Michael Douglas, who taught him to be a womanizer. Uncle Wayne is there to warn Connor that he should change his ways cause if he doesn't he will end up miserable and alone. In order to convince Connor, three ghosts show up. The best ghost was probably the one from the past. She was a complete eighties teenager and funny. I was surprised to find out she was played by Emma Stone (who was Jules in Superbad). I won't bother telling you the end of the plot...I am sure you can pretty much guess what happens.

The hightlight of this movie was definitely Lacey Chabert, who played Sandra the bride. She pretty much played the funniest bridezilla ever. She would completely freak out, like lose her mind kind of freak out, and then calm down to a level of calm that isn't really normal. It amused me greatly. Lacey Chabert usually amuses me greatly though (Mean Girls, anyone?).

The only other I wish to mention is how even though I completely failed and figuring out who the bridesmaids were, I feel the need to share the knowledge I googled. One bridesmaid is from Grey's Anatomy (the episode with the two Amish girls in which Silver from 90210 plays the one with cancer and this girl plays the one without). The other bridesmaid is Amanda Walsh, you know, the MUCH MUSIC VJ (I believe the youngest they've ever had). I remember thinking how adorable she was. Anyway, that is all. Though there is one other bridesmaid I remember nothing about her.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past gets two kernels - worth the price of a second run movie as it is entertaining, but oh so very predictable.

earth

earth is amazing. Let me just start by saying that. So much cute and breathtaking beauty. Now a tiny step back.

earth is a British-American-German documentary kind of film. It was apparently made in 2007, but not released until this year in North America. The film follows, through the course of the year, three families: polar bear, elephant, and humpback whale. Of course there are many other animals in the film as well.

As there is no real plot to speak of I don't have too much to say about the specifics of the film. It is so incredibly visual. I will say that if you are worried that James Earl Jones is going to be telling you that global warming is evil and we are all killing the planet for the entire film, stop worrying. I think global warming, or climate change, was only specifically mentioned three or four times.

One of the things I kept thinking during, and especially after, was how amazing it would have been to film all of the amazing animals. It seem as though they played a very observatory role and did their best to not interfere with any of the animal life. It clearly took a lot of time and money to put the film together, but I think it was well worth it. I very much recommend this film as it is gorgeous to watch, gives you some interesting facts (like, the boreal forest contains 1/3 of the world's trees [I think I remembered that right]), and is only 90 minutes if you have a short attention span.

earth gets three kernels - wide audience appeal and overwhelmingly beautiful.

UP

UP (seen in 3D). The short before the movie Partly Cloudy was really good. I've never seen a short in the theatre before. This was also my first 3D movie experience.

The story is about an elderly man, Carl, who shared a dream, with his now deceased wife, to fly their house to a far away land that an explorer (Charles Muntz) claimed to have been to when they were children. Carl finally decides to go for it and begins to fly his house. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a boy named Russell comes on the journey with him.

The two actually reach their destination and come across some unusual things. The first being this strange large bird (the reason Muntz returned so he could bring it back and prove himself to be not crazy) that Russell names Frank. The second are dogs that can speak thanks to a collar they wear (one that Muntz invented). One of these dogs, Dug, helps Carl and Russell. As for plot I will leave it at that, cause I am not sure I can explain it any better.

I will say that the dogs were awesome. Very much how I imagine dogs to be thinking and to hear it verbalized is great. Carl and Russell's friendship is also great to watch.

I felt like they could have maybe done more with the 3D, but I guess it is good they weren't relying on it to hold your interest.

UP gets three kernels - really good story; funny and heartfelt.