Bridesmaids: A Wedding Favour or Flop?

This movie had them rolling in the aisles… well most of them.

Personally, I found the humour awesome! As an old hand at being a bridesmaid, at least 5 times, it was completely relateable. I did however notice one gentleman who got up about 5 minutes into it and say, “I don’t think so” and he left. I wanted to ask the woman he left behind what he found offensive, but I doubt she wanted anymore attention than she already received.

The one thing I didn’t understand about this movie was it’s repeated attempts at changing genres, from clear comedy to tear-drop drama. The emotional rollercoaster they were trying to run was exhausting and confusing. That being said, the comedy inspite of  the drama is still strong enough to warrant running out and seeing this one with a group of gal pals asap! And if you happen to be getting married in the near future… this is a MUST for you and your wedding party. If for no other reason than to ease some of the tension about those seafoam green dresses you selected for your attendings!

I give this movie 8 ‘puppy favours’ out of 10.

The Goods – Movie Review

Never judge a book by its cover and never judge a movie by it’s cast. This movie has a great cast and even Jeremy Piven could not save this disappointing movie. The movie has very a medicore script and it seems the writers tried to make this movie a hit by throwing in as much vulgarity as they could.

Similar to his character in Entourage, Jeremy Piven plays a motor-mouth character, Don Ready, who is a master car salesman. He travels from town to town with his team to save dealerships from closing down. This time, Don Ready and his team have been hired by Ben Selleck, played by Josh Brolin, to rescue the family business.

Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Ed Helms and Craig Robinson are some of the other actors that make ‘The Goods’ movie watchable. Please watch at your own risk.I hope this movie does not derail jeremy Piven’s momentum that he has gathered through playing Ari Gold in Entourage.

We give this movie 5 ‘failed parachutes’ out of 10.

Letters to Juliet

Chick flick. I shouldn’t even have to say that, the title, the poster, the synopsis, all scream loud and proud, CHICK FLICK.

The formula varies little between these types of movies; girl meets boy – they dislike one another but manage to fall in love, girl meets boy – but is already involved with another, girl meets boy – who tells her he’s wanted to kill her since he first smelled her blood… wait, that’s another movie completely! In the end though of these less classic love stories, the couple winds up foolishly happy and against all odds, together.

So why does Hollywood continue to drum out the same story year after year? Because we keep going to see them, and speaking for the fairer sex, I’ll tell you that it’s because I believe we all secretly wish to be the centre of someones world. To be so adored by someone that they will move mountains, take on the world, or in this case, drop the pompous-spoiled British brat routine and behave like a normal person, anything in order to be with you.

From the time we’re born, we’re read fairytales… spoon fed the perfect relationship scenario until we can’t imagine settling for anything else. These romantic-comedies are created to continue delivering your bedtime story, just a bit more age appropriate.

The acting was average, the story itself a few “too cheesy” moments, but over all it was definitely watchable, though personally I’d save it for a dvd rental cuddled on the sofa. The one real issue I had with the movie was the footwear for the lead male. Ordinarily, costuming doesn’t top my list of do die criteria for a movie, but the shoes they kept outfitting the lead male with just didn’t work. Not once did they complement his outfit. In fact it was to the point where I thought that perhaps the costume department didn’t realize that his feet would be showing in the scenes, so they just let him wear whatever he showed up in that day on the set.

I give this movie 5 ‘Lorenzos‘ out of 10.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? Movie Review

Firstly, let me say that I am a Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant fan… perhaps just not in the same movie, and certainly not as a couple, married or otherwise. There was absolutely no chemistry between these two.

The story was a nice change from the norm, a New York couple, recently separated at the hands of infidelity, witness a murder and are forced into witness relocation in the sticks of Montana or Wyoming.The state is irrelevant, it’s the surroundings that make the point, the polar opposite of NY City. These two separated love birds have no choice but to shack up together and await their returned to their much loved New York to testify against the killer.

I would call this movie “cutesy”. There were a couple of chuckles, and the supporting characters were fantastic, but the chemistry that should have held this movie together just never made it to the big screen.

I give this movie 4 ‘cans of bear spray’ out of 10.

Avatar

A vast change from James Cameron’s last big block buster, Titanic. Avatar is certainly worth the wait technically, however is a bit of deja vu on the storyline front.

Visually, hands down the most vibrant and engaging movie I’ve seen since What Dreams May Come. James Cameron has done an amazing job with photo realistic CGI, making the Na’vi characters and their world not only believable, but as if you could step right into it, as you would normally walk down the street.

The central story involves a paraplegic marine, played by Sam Worthington, who travels to a far off planet where a greedy corporation is working to steal a precious metal from the planets core. Worthington is promised the ability to walk again if he can gain the trust of the natives, the Na’vi. His character is mentally connected, through a unique technology, to a physical shell form, an Avatar, of the natives. This allows him to interact physically with the Na’vi within their world relatively freely, without risk to his human form as the planet’s atmosphere is not condusive to supporting human life.

The story plays out with a fair amount of similarity to Pocahontas, which Matt Bateman outlines here http://imgur.com/JmRmb . I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read through this as I had been complaining that the story was kind of lacking and seemed all too familiar.

Overall though, if you have the chance to see this movie in 3D at an IMAX, do it. Not only will you have the opportunity to see some truly stunning visual effects, you’ll get a feel good movie too.

I give this movie 8 ‘Avatar’s’ out of 10.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

From TwiMoms to teens, theatres have been packed with the much anticipated sequel to Twilight.

Personally, I can’t imagine seeing this movie without having read the book beforehand. Although great strides have been made from the screen adaptation of the first book to the second book, but they are still not without their failings. It’s the classic issue of interpretation; as a reader you use your own life experiences to relate to the book, but with a movie you are steered more in a specific direction to tell the tale. The movies in this series really play up the “highschool’ component, where comparatively the books make a clear mention that Bella is in highschool, the focus in my opinion is really on the relationships in her life and her constant second guessing of her worth.

The continuation of the Bella and Edward story takes quite the dismal twist in New Moon, one that leaves Bella empty and hopeless, until Jacob returns to the scene. Jacob transforms Bella, if only for short periods of time, back into as close to a normal state as possible without the inclusion of Edward.

I was happy with the outcome of this film and feel that the change in Director has given the story the umph that Twilight was missing… no disrespect to Catherine Hardwick, but Chris Weitz‘s interpretation seems to have done a better job hitting the mark.

Whether you’re a Team Edward, Team Jacob or just a teenaged vampire lover, you know this movie is not to be missed. But I strongly encourage you to read the books first, to get a real impression of what Stephenie Meyer was trying to say when she penned this story.

I give this movie 6.5 ‘Forks’ out of 10.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

I knew going in that this was going to be a particularly difficult film to watch, given the preview, and that it seems anytime a movie is based on a true story, it’s going to be rough.

Clarice Precious Jones is one hell of a heroine. This is the story of a 16 year old girl growing up in absolutely horrific circumstances. Abused by her mother both physically and even more so emotionally, raped by her father, unable to read or write but in high school, serious weight issues, and a mother of her two siblings.

Taught to loathe herself, from the colour of her skin, to how she eats, walks, talks and thinks, by her Mama. Precious ‘ escape from the tortures of her life are through her daydreams, where sometimes she’s a model, an actress or a light haired white woman. When she is forced to re-educate herself, she not only learns reading and writing, she tackles the even bigger challenge of learning to love, trust and make her place in the world with the help of another strong black woman.

As in all movies of this genre, the heroine overcomes immensely challenging obstacles and makes real strides in her life, including a remarkable scene where she finally confronts her mother. Forget comedy Mo’Nique, you have a real calling when it comes to the dramatics. Her performance was brilliant, spinning nasty and despicable to pure evil and malevolence. As for Gabby Sidibe as Precious, let’s just say I hope that we see more from this fantastic young actress.

I can’t wait to see how this film does at the Oscar’s. I give it a considerable nod, and 9 ‘journals’ out of 10.

Act Of God – Review by Lauren Oostveen

“I can’t accept that it happened for a reason, nor can I really accept that there is no reason. The only way to carry on is to be humble, and a little bit in awe of these things you can’t really understand.”

Act of God is the newest film from director Jennifer Baichwal, best known for her 2006 film Manufactured Landscapes. It is film about how people cope with being the victim of something so powerful and out of their control. Lightening plays the deus ex machina and comes down from the sky to irreversibly change a person’s life. Broken, they must struggle to reform their understanding of the universe.

Through interviews with those struck by lightening, those who had close calls, and others who lost family members, Act of God explores how these people deal with an event that is so rare, and traces back the events in their lives that brought them to the lightening. A constant theme throughout the movie is the subjects’ thoughts on why they were struck; was it their fate or a completely random event? Not surprisingly, many take comfort in either possibility… that they were chosen, or on the contrary, that it means nothing.

The film includes some beautiful images and film clips of lightening storms, many of which seem to be lifted from YouTube. The progression of the film, like perhaps its subject, is very random. It is not a scientific exploration of this violent event in nature, but a deeply personal journey about those who have been changed forever in a two-second strike.

The metaphysical exploration of lightening strikes also leads into a discussion of electricity in the human brain, and how randomness changes the way our brain works. This is illustrated by a man whose brain waves are being observed on a computer while he plays an improvised guitar solo that is inspired by lightening.

Act of God contains powerful moments, but it loses strength in the selection of material and the jerky progression of the film. Segments stick out as being too loosely connected to the subject matter, when the film would have benefited from a more focused story. The film as a whole shows humanity’s fear and awe of nature, but sometimes ignores its subject, lightening, and the clear science behind it.

I heard a few people on the way out muttering that they thought it was supposed to be a film about lightening. Besides the clips of storms, the subject really could have been just about anything… a hurricane, a plane crash, a drive-by shooting… an event that relinquishes our control and throws us to the mercy of the universe.

Lauren Oostveen is one of our star reviewers. You can visit her blog here.

Big Fan – Movie Review

Big fan is a story of an attendant (Paul Aufiero) at a parking garage who is also a die hard New York Giants fan. At 36, Paul still lives with his mom and when hes not at his boring job, he is making fanatic calls to the local radio station and trash talking other foot ball teams. Sal, played by Kevin Corrigan, is Paul’s only friend and accompanies Paul in the fanatical obession of the Giants.

One evening, Paul and Sal spot their favorite Giants player, Quantrell Bishop, at a gas station. They decide to stalk him and follow him to a strip bar. at the bar, Paul gets to speak to Bishop and tells him that they have been following him. Bishop freaks out and beats up Paul. The rest of the story revolves around Paul becoming NY’s worst enemy as Bishop now cannot take the field due to the pending litigation against him.

Rob Siegel, who wrote The Wrestler, make his directorial debut with Big Fan. Patton Oswalt and Kevin Corrigan are brilliant in a movie that is definately worth watching.

You can check out the showtimes for the movie in your city here.

We give this movie 6 ‘touchdowns’ out of 10.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

The moment is finally here. The new Wolverine movie is out and there have been mixed reviews about this movie.

X-Men Origins Wolverine features Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins and is directed by Gavin Hood of Rendition and Tsotsi fame. With the word Origins in the title, it would seem like this is the first of an endless stream of X-Men movies explaining the origins of other characters and we hope they get to Magneto soon.

The movie is not as good as the original X-Men movies but there is a lot in this movie for people who just look for special effects and crazy action sequences. Its great to see Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine but seeing Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth hurts. As good as an actor he may be, Liev is not convincing as Sabretooth. Another weak point in this movie and it may be obvious to some, is the inexperience of Gavin Hoob and big budget blockbusters.

For all you online poker fans out there, Daniel Negreanu, shows up in a scene with Wolverine and Gambit playing Texas Hold ‘Em and is one of the talked about cameos of the movie. Daniel Negrean has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles.

What did you think about this movie?

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