Forgetting Sarah Marshall / Made of Honor

Karen and I decided to see something light - Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We then decided to sneak into the next movie that was starting. Unfortunately, it was Made of Honor.

Let's start with the first one.


Forgetting Sarah Marshall

6.8/10 (couldn't justify giving it a 7)

Bonus points for full frontal penis shots. It's about frickin time. There were several funny parts, and I quite enjoyed myself. I had never experienced this Russell Brand dude before, and I loved him! He reminded me of a guy that I dated in Calgary - UK accent, same teeth and everything. Nummies. Other than that, just a typical comedy. Oh and I never realized how beautiful Mila Kunis was. It's hard to see past the annoying character she played on That 70's Show. In this movie she was softer and man, she is gorgeous.


Made of Honor

3/10

This movie was overly predictable, trite and retarded. The lead characters were unconvincing. I think I rolled my eyes every 5 minutes. Thank goodness we snuck in and I didn't pay for this piece of garbage.

Don't see this movie, but...DO check out the picture of me and Patrick below :)

I'm sooo skinny!

The Visitor

8/10

This movie was quite good, but there were a few parts where it seemed kind of draggy. Each of these parts were crucial to the storyline, however.

Spoiler

At the end, the guy gets deported. They try to paint a picture of him being a normal, happy human being...and try to make the audience root for him to stay in the country.....but I was happy to see it end this way. Laws are implemented for a reason, hello! If everyone was allowed to cross borders with no consequence, the world would be a mess. Yes, it was shitty that he had to go back to wherever the hell it was, but he wasn't here legally in the first place.

I saw this movie with Andrea, and we couldn't have had more different opinions about it. She thought it wasn't believable. She thought the character development was shoddy. I thought the exact opposite of everything she said.

I think I should go to movies by myself more often. That's what I think.

No Country For Old Men / August Rush

Oops, forgot some that I saw a while ago. Here they are:

No Country For Old Men

7/10

The first half of this movie KICKED ASS. The last quarter of this movie was fucked. I get so disappointed when a movie does that. It starts off sooo strongly and then fizzles near the end.

Examples of this:

Fight Club
U-Turn

Anyway, until this movie went wonky, I really enjoyed it. Too bad it couldn't have carried the wonderfulness through to the end.

August Rush

4/10

Fucking horrible. This was the gayest movie I have seen in A-G-E-S. I vomited a few times in my mouth during this flick. Mind you, it was fun watching Jonathan Rhys Meyers - he's very easy on the orbs. But this movie was full of such sappy bullshit lines and a far fetched crappy storyline that I was rolling my eyes about every 6 minutes.

I have rolled my eyes a few times since when I hear someone talking about how it was such a great movie. Did we see the same flick? (horf)

Top 5 of 2007

Ok, for the last few years I have listed my favourite 10 movies of the year, but since I am now in the big smoke again, paying mondo rent and being as poor as a church mouse, I haven't seen even half as much as I did in Calgary. Therefore I am reducing my Top 10 to my Top 5.

Remember, I only review what I see in the theatre.


TOP 5 MOVIES OF 2007

1. Away From Her
2. Juno
3. Into the Wild
4. Waitress
5. Who Loves the Sun

Honourable mention - Superbad

Baby Mama

6/10

I woke up the morning after the head shave. Was still getting used to no hair. Had a bit of a headache, but was in Brampton with Andrea. We didn't want to just go home since it was 12 p.m on a Saturday. We decided to see a movie, and wanted to choose one when we got to the theatre. This is the one we chose.

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are always great, but other than a few funny sections, this didn't really do anything for me.

Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

It served its purpose of giving us something to do on a Saturday afternoon, so it was all good.

Caramel (Sukkar Banat)

9/10

You know, I am so used to always seeing subtitled movies that are serious, that it was nice to see one that was hilarious for once. I had heard that this was a great movie; it was so unique that I loved every second of it. I saw this at the Carlton, which is one of the best movie theatres to fully enjoy the film without a gazillion people talking all the way through it. It's such an artsy fartsy crowd that people actually go to the theatre to absorb the film. Imagine that concept.

See this movie. It's very good.

Bucket List

6.5/10

A lighthearted movie. I didn't go into this movie thinking that I would be blown off my feet....so it did the job.

Always enjoy Jack Nicholson. Same with Morgan Freeman.....although it was nice to see him in a movie without Ashley Judd. I thought it was in his contract or something......

Nothing much else to say about this one.

Peace.

Juno

10/10

I saw this movie a looooong time ago, but never got my act together to blog about it. Nicola got free tickets for this flick (any idea when that was Nicola?)

Anyhoooo, I loved everything about it. Funny, funny, clever, clever.

Good writing, great acting, fun little story.

Very, very enjoyable.

Lars and the Real Girl

8.5/10

What a neat movie. I never thought that the subject material could be portrayed as serious, but they do an amazing job with making it not seem as ridiculous as it sounds on paper.

Ryan Gosling did an amazing job as per the usual.

I LOVE movies that have subject matter that is risque....well not so much risque, but subject matter that is weird, bizarre, and odd. I love it.

I really liked this movie for that reason.

Eastern Promises

4/10

Okay, WHY was this movie getting such good reviews? I really don't understand. I think maybe it's just the "Cronenberg" frenzy, because the movie was shit.

The story was simple. The characters weren't complex. The acting was mediocre. The accents faded in and out. There was one scene where she was on her scooter, with the backdrop behind her which looked like it was from one of those realllly old movies. You know the ones I mean...the back is moving but it looks like a screen set up in your basement. Maybe he tried to make it look this cheesy? Who knows.

If you saw this movie and liked it, please tell me what I am missing.

I'm not much of a Cronenberg fan in the first place (although I loved Crash, 1996). He's either very good or very bad.

Into The Wild

9.5/10

WOW.

I have not cried as much during a movie, as in this one. I cried in the beginning, the middle, and the end. I left the theatre crying. I cried on the way home. It was unbelievable. I'm tearing up thinking about it. Bah!

Sean Penn is a genius. He managed to find the perfect people for these roles. It's hard for me to decide whether I thought this kid had it all right, or had lost his marbles. He seemed to touch all of the lives of people during his journey, yet he didn't seem to connect with any of them. He was this lonely wanderer, who had left his life behind.

The old man in this movie (Hal Holbrook) will tear your heart out and make you weep like a little child.

You need to see this movie. There are no special effects, no explosions, and no action. It's quite slow in some spots too. But WOW. What a phenomenal movie. The acting. The story. The filming. Fantastic.

In the Valley of Elah

7.5/10

I had no idea what this movie was about, as it wasn't my choice. I decided to just go and have a good time.

I won't tell you the story, but it was quite well done. Short of a few cheesy scenes, it was enjoyable. Charlize did a great job, and it was nice to see Tommy Lee Jones create a character where he wasn't yelling at everyone.

And of course.......

With about 15 minutes to go, the fire alarm went off in the theatre. I'm not sure what it is about me and bad movie theatre experiences, but I just took it in stride and watched the rest of the movie with the dinging in the background. The good news, is that we were presented with two free movie passes for the inconvenience!

Let's review the stupid movie experiences I have had:

Polar Express

Movie was put together incorrectly - half of the movie was normal, second half was upside down and the sound was played backwards. Creepy.

The Aviator

Movie projector busted about an hour in. Thank goodness. Bored me up to that point.

Little Miss Sunshine

The movie tape busted and was all over the ground.

Childstar

They refused to play the movie for me and a friend because we were the only ones that bought tickets that night. It wouldn't be worth their while to play it, financially.

In the Valley of Elah

Fire alarm.

It always ends in free movie passes, so although inconvenienced at the time, it allows me to see an extra movie. Not a bad deal.

The Brave One

6.8/10

I had a feeling that this movie would be mediocre. It's too bad, because I think they really had an opportunity to make this better than it was.

As always, Jodie Foster was brilliant with her acting. However, there were a few instances in the movie, where it was supposed to be serious and gut wrenching, but it came off as campy and silly. I really think they could have made this seem more authentic and emotional. I found myself almost crying in some scenes, and then almost falling off my chair with the absurdity of the next scene.

I have read a few articles about this movie, and I think the intention was to make it very raw, but they were missing the element of it being realistic.

Jodie Foster needs a few Big Mac combos too. She is getting waaaaaay too skinny. I find it hard to watch Terrence Howard. He almost sounds slow or mentally delayed. Sort of like Giovanni Ribisi. I remember seeing Giovanni in "The Other Sister" and I thought he did such a great job playing someone with a mental disability. Meanwhile, the next thing I watched him in, he was the exact same. It wasn't a stretch at all for him. It's actually a stretch for him to sound normal.

But I digress.

The first theatre Andrea and I went to, was in the midst of a fire alarm, so we left and went to Empress Walk. We realized we forgot the 2 for 1 coupon in her car, so we ventured down into the parking garage to get it. We then ended up on the wrong level, and a friendly woman explained how to get where we needed to be. We travelled back up to the theatre, and when paying, we were told that the theatre changed from a Cineplex to an Empire, about 9 months ago. Therefore our coupon wasn't valid. The manager behind the desk motioned to the kid who was punching in the tickets and we were presented with two free tickets. The manager was the same woman who helped us in the garage. She said it was apparent that we were having a bad day, so she wanted to help us out. How awesome....!

You Kill me

6/10

If anything wonderful came out of seeing this movie, it was the discovery of the Bloor Cinema. What a gem! Cheap movies, phenomenal theatre, and the clientèle is mature and alternative. I believe I probably was at that theatre back when I was 19- my boyfriend took me there to see Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I will never forget. If you have never seen that movie, you should go. Seriously. You will never forget that night as long as you live. The movie sucks, but the overall experience is what you will remember.

Anyhow, back to the movie.

Tea Leoni's character was fabulous in this movie. She was sarcastic, unshakable, and probably the most understanding person anyone could meet.

My favourite quote from this movie?
______________________________________________________

Are you pregnant?
No! Unless you put something in my egg-roll. And then put the egg-roll in my...
____________________________________________________________

The timing was hilarious. Most people missed it, because Tea Leoni has the exact humour as her husband, David Duchovny. They deliver it with the dryness of a bone, but it comes at ya like a ton of bricks.

The movie was okay. Just okay. Nothing too wonderful. I felt that Bill Pulman was trying to emulate Robert Deniro in Taxi Driver - a bad imitation. Luke Wilson needs a shampoo too. He looks greasy all the time.

Other than that, meh. Twas okay.

Superbad

8/10

I was a little worried about this movie, since I LOVED 40 Year Old Virgin and wasn't a fan of Knocked Up. I was fearing yet another movie chock-full of toilet humour and references to sex and bodily functions. The first 15 minutes of the movie moved in this same direction, but then made a u-turn and continued with a totally different objective.

First off, the three main characters in this movie were tremendous. They had amazing chemistry, and although they were all so different, they were the perfect amalgamation.

I wanted to squeeze Michael Sera; he was so cute! He would have been the type of kid that I'd be interested in while in high school. I loved the fact that although most of the kids were looking to get laid and drunk, the one girl holding the party chose not to drink...and was disappointed that Seth was drunk when he told her of his crush. I liked that they managed to squeeze in a straight-laced cool chick (me in high school) with all of the party goers. She also chose to like the non-buff insecure guy over the buff jock-types.

It was a non-traditional teen dramedy. I enjoyed it, and will never forget my favourite term from the movie:

"Samesies."

My favourite teen comedy/dramedy from the last 15 years still remains as "Can't Hardly Wait." LOVE THAT MOVIE. Funny funny funny.

Movie Sabbatical

I think I saw the last movie Severance...about two months ago. Early June.

Two reasons for this:

1. Crap movies have been out
2. I just can't justify spending money on a movie that I don't REALLY want to see.

Reviews will resume once the good movies return.

Summers suck for the types of movies that I like. They are usually full of crappy blockbuster-type movies that are allllll special effects and poor dialogue.

I shall return in due time.

Severance

Rating: 5/10

I won these tickets on www.cinemaclock.com...and had no idea what this film was about.

The tag line said: "Another bloody office outing."

I assumed that since it was an English film, "bloody" meant stupid, not as in blood from a wound.

The movie was messed up. Basically it was a bunch of coworkers who were on this retreat...but were abandoned by the bus driver who refused to go past a certain point on the route. They found an old, abandoned house and were stalked by army-type soldiers and killed off one by one. It wasn't until maybe 75% through the movie that the campiness surfaced. Up until that point it was just bad. Once the campiness started, I laughed my head off. I just don't understand why it took that long to come out.....usually it's pretty immediate. I didn't know what to make of the movie until that point.

Thank goodness it was free. I had popcorn and a cherry slushy so it wasn't a total waste.

Knocked Up

6.5/10

I had high expectations about this movie.

I should NEVER have high expectations about ANY movie.

I loved the 40 Year Old Virgin SO MUCH, that I was excited to hear that the same dude wrote and directed both movies. It was a win-win situation. Right?

Back when 40 YR came out, Wedding Crashers came out at the same time. I didn't like WC because it was full of bathroom/raunchy humour. That type of humour is so unimaginative. 40 YR was hilarious to me because it was based on the relationships between 4 guys - very intriguing and original.

"Knocked Up" was full of bathroom jokes. Some were soo blatant that it was insulting. The best performance was by the sister, who had the best lines ever.

Almost every single actor in 40 was in this movie. Honestly, I would say about 10 of them were in both movies. It had a Kevin Smith feel for this reason alone.

I'm disappointed because comedies aren't usually my forte. I will go see them, but the ones that really get me laughing are black comedies or dram-edies. Full force comedies are usually bland and forced to me. If the humour isn't clever, I can't get into them. For example, my favourite comedies are....My Cousin Vinny, The Ref, Saved, 16 Candles, etc.

Oh well. Maybe someone soon will release a great comedy again. In the meantime I will stick to my dramas.

Away From Her

10/10

There have only been a few movies that I have seen twice in the theatre - one of them was Iris, which starred Judy Dench, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent. It touched on the whole Alzheimers plot as well.

This movie was beautiful. I'm so happy for Sarah Polley. She's a mere 28 years old and she is already directing and writing her own movies.

I fell in love with Gordon Pinsent's character. His voice, his love for his wife, his understanding, and his presence were captivating. I don't know how I haven't managed to come across him before now. He's incredibly talented and has been in tons of movies and television shows.

One of my favourite performances was from Kristen Thomson, who plays the head nurse/caregiver of the wife. She is incredibly supportive, warm, and nurturing. Just when you think she's too good to be true, she turns and verbally stings Gordon - which is well deserved. This just makes her character more credible. I look forward to seeing her in more movies in the future.

You need to see this movie. It's a tad long, but well worth the 10 bucks. Canadian movies need the support in the theatre.

Waitress

8.5/10

I really liked this movie. It was the perfect blend of humour, drama, and realism. It was endearing.

Keri Russell was awesome. She was a talented pie-maker who had a shitty husband, and was stuck in a dead-end marriage. Her husband was played by no other than Jeremy Sisto. If anyone is frickin typecast, it's this guy. He always plays this psycho, abusive character (Hideaway, Six Feet Under, Waitress). He was crazy as per the usual.

The best parts of this movie were when she was thinking up the types of pies that she wanted to make. They were hilarious. It would be something like this: "I want to smash my husband in the face" pie. LOL.

The most lovable character was Andy Griffith. He was a man that feigned nastiness but was incredibly intuitive and endearing underneath.

It made me sad to find out afterwards, that one of the actors is deceased. Adrienne Shelley was killed in November 2006. She wrote and directed this movie as well as starring in it.

A total shame.

Keri Russell has managed to get better looking as she gets older. That usually happens to men, not women. She's gorgeous.