28 Films Later Read this as I get better at reviewing films.

Since first seeing the trailer for this film, I was excited to say the least. Ed Helms and John C. Reilly can do no wrong in my book. I’m happy to report that this charming film did not disappoint.

Tim Lippe (Helms) has never left his small town home of Brown Valley, Wisconsin. All of that changes when the top performer at his insurance firm dies right before the big convention in Cedar Rapids. The baton is passed to Tim to wow the higher ups at the convention and bring home the prestigious ‘Two Diamonds’ award for the fourth year in a row. The rest of the film follows Lippe as he leaves his nest and learns to fly out in the big city.

This film did a great job of not digging a hole for itself. What could have easily turned out to be just a normal ‘nerd gone wild’ story is saved by the depth of the characters. Lippe ends up rooming with the straight shooting Ron ‘Ronimal’ Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock) and the loud mouthed Dean Ziegler (Reilly). These three guys end up becoming best friends and also hook up with Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche). So it is safe to assume the usual shenanigans occur, but aside from the those typical laugh grabs we get to watch Lippe taste the real world and come out on the other side as man who still has convictions. Also, Deanzie first comes off as nothing but a disillusioned drunk, but as the film progresses we see that he is a good hearted friend. It is not only a testament to the acting, but also to the writing behind this film.

Ultimately the message behind the film is if you can’t find anything decent to stand behind, you can always beleive in yourself. Now I realize this may sound a little like the message of an after school special, but trust me it is delivered in a way that is both humorous and endearing. I found myself attached to all of the characters and in the end I walked away feeling happy.

Highly recommended film.

4.5 out 5 stars.

I’ll start this off by saying, if you’re a 100% straight girl, go ahead and skip this film. It will offer you nothing. For the rest of us, we get the optical delight of Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried getting it on.

Chloe (Seyfried) is a high end call girl who makes her living pleasuring her clients with not only her actions, but her words as well. Catherine (Moore) is a well to due doctor who is experiencing a rut in her marriage and suspects her husbands lack of attention is the result of an affair. To put her suspicions of David (Liam Neeson) to the test, she hires Chloe to tempt him. Chloe confirms that David accepts her advances, but offers no proof other than her word. Catherine believes her, and in her devastated state, decides that sleeping with Chloe might somehow bring her closer to David. Chloe seems to think this means that she and Catherine can begin a relationship, and Catherine sees it as a one time thing. Turns out Chloe is kind of nuts and isn’t willing to accept a simple goodbye.

Lesiban sex aside, this movie was pretty decent. The acting was on point and managed to save a mostly predictable plot line. Julianne Moore had me feeling sorry for her as she pined to be close to her husband and watched him offer attention to seemingly every other woman around. Liam Neeson did well as the too busy to notice husband. Amanda Seyfried was convincing, but didn’t knock my socks off. I also liked the pacing of the film. There was enough going on to keep you interested even if you could already guess how it would end.

Now even though it may be predictible, there is still something to ponder. The film never touches on Chloe’s motivation. Was it for money, companionship, or approval? You never really know. In this sense the movie treats us to being the flies on the wall to this wacko fest. Some might find this part frustrating and it can be if not used correctly. I thought the mystery at the end was well placed and added an element that saved me from the feeling of it being all for nothing.

I wouldn’t call the film a must see, but I wouldn’t avoid it either. It’s on Netflix instant, so the next time you don’t know what to watch, fire it up.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

When will the powers that be realize that making a movie about exorcism is a bad thing? “The Exorcist” set the bar too high and I believe that we won’t have a film made that will ever outdo it. “The Rite” steps up to the plate, and ultimately strikes out.

Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) and his father (Rutger Hauer) run a mortuary together. Michael is disillusioned with it and decides to enter seminary school with the intention of using it for the free education and dropping out last minute. His superior, Father Matthew, sends him to Rome to brush up on the rite of exorcism thanks to the recent rise in reported cases. Michael is told that if he still wishes to give up the faith after his journey he can.

While in Rome Michael begins attending the classes and makes his reservations towards exorcism well known. His instructor suggests he act as an aide for his friend Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins). As Michael begins his duties with Father Lucas, strange things begin to happen that challenge his faith and also force him to reexamine his logical attitude toward exorcism in general. This all leads up to Michael taking the role of the exorcist to the possessed Father Lucas and waging a classic good versus evil showdown.

The film starts slowly and takes bit of time to gain momentum. Once the pace is picked up, we get some disturbing imagery from the pregnant 16 year old who is possessed. Father Lucas’ possession is also creepy and unnerving. The film overall did well with convincingly delivering the creepy unknown of possession. However, once we get to the ending of the film, I felt that it was all for nothing and was left feeling disappointed. I felt like it was just too obvious and presented in a way that would be fitting for a made for cable film and not for a film of this caliber. In a way the complete resolution, which some may find nice, left me wanting an open ending where evil would still be menacing Michael throughout his days. Instead I got good triumphing over evil and the message of faith will always win so long as you believe.

Another negative point was the acting. I felt like the talent budget went exclusively to Anthony Hopkins. Anybody could have played the Michael character better than O’Donoghue. I don’t where they found this guy, but I hope he never works again. He was awful in every sense.

To sum it up, the middle of the film is great. Scary, disturbing, and intriguing. The beginning and end totally ruin it, so you’re left with half of a good movie. Kind of like a sandwich made on the worst bread imaginable. I would say skip this one, unless you’re bored and have low expectations.

2 out of 5 stars.

It’s no surprise at this point that Hollywood is obsessed with rebooting franchises. Most of the time this move strikes me as an obvious grab for cash. However, when I heard they were remaking “A Nightmare on Elm St.” I couldn’t contain my excitement. I knew they wanted my easy money and I was happy to give it to them. I grew up on the original franchise. I’m pretty sure I can still recite the majority of “Dream Warriors” by heart. Being that this was my third time watching this film, I can already tell you that I was impressed.

Unless you have been living under a rock or you just hate horror movies, you are familiar with the character of Freddy Krueger. Freddy is a man who was burned to death and wears a glove with knives at the fingertips. He now haunts the dreams of the children whose parents sent him to his fiery grave. Be warned, these nightmares will not only scare you, they will kill you.

The best part of this reboot for me was the darkness that was added to Freddy. In the original series Freddy delivers at least seven one liners per film. For instance, in “Dream Warriors” he shoves a girls head through a television and says “Welcome to prime time bitch”. The new Freddy, played by Jackie Earle Haley, makes far fewer wise cracks adding a much needed sinister tone. We also get some much appreciated back story to add a bit more depth to the man who becomes the monster. The movie sees Krueger as a groundskeeper at the local preschool who is beloved by the children. He uses this position to do the most horrible thing you could imagine to these innocent kids. This addition to the plot also takes the laughable element away from Freddy that was piled on in the original films and adds a realistic tone of disgust and fear.

Another highlight for me was the pacing of the film. We get straight to the blood from the beginning and don’t look back. The film clocks in at 90 minutes. To me, this is the perfect amount of time. I feel like I’ve been watching a ton of films lately that are just too long and I found it refreshing to not be wondering how much time was left. I also loved the way director Samuel Bayer captured the dream sequences. The mood of the film would alter slightly, not enough for you to know right away that you’re in a dream. It would seem his experience in music videos served him well here. It’s a very ambitious first film for Bayer and I can’t wait for his next.

So, if you’re a traditionalist then you won’t like the film simply because it isn’t the original. If you’re like me and are really excited to see your favorite childhood villain be resurrected, then you will love it. At a time when we as an audience are being beat to death with unoriginal ideas, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” comes along and reminds us that it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.

4 out of 5 stars.

I tried to watch this movie a few months ago and only made it about twenty minutes in before I gave up. However, any review I have read online gives the movie tons of praise. Not wanting to be left out, I decided to give it a second chance.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 22 year old that lives in a small town in Canada where he has recently started dating a high schooler by the name of Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Things get strange when Scott meets the girl of his dreams Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Scott soon learns that he must defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes in order to date her. We then follow our hero as he tries to win the battle of the bands, defeat the exes, and maintain his sanity under the pressure.

The film is presented as a mix of comic book, video game, and music video. It is done so quite nicely, a feast for the eyes one might say. I appreciated the creativity of this movie. We are given a story that could have been presented as a hipster romantic comedy, and instead of taking the easy way out, we get a flip side of fast paced fight scenes to balance out the trials of airing the dirty laundry of relationships past. Both Scott and Ramona are forced to recall and examine their choices from their past and what type of person it has made them.

The supporting cast was a huge selling point for me. Aubrey Plaza plays an obnoxious ex-girlfriend to the band’s front man. Perfect role for her to showcase her darkly sarcastic wit. Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, ex number three. A vegan who is granted psychic powers thanks to his diet. Jason Schwartzman as the mastermind of the league of evil exes. Perfect choice for the “end boss”. With all the hipster references the movie makes, seems to make sense that the ultimate villain would be a hipster icon. Anna Kendrick plays Scott’s younger sister who acts as both voice of reason and bane of existence. Kieran Culkin stole the movie though. He plays Scott’s gay roommate and serves as the bulk of the comic relief throughout the intense fight scenes.

While I did find most characters entertaining, I found it hard to empathize with any of them. I didn’t really care who ended up together or how things worked out in the end. I also found myself eager for the movie to end. I can’t tell if it was because the film was too long (112 minutes) or it was the lack of empathy. Either way, I felt like I was doing work for the last thirty minutes of the film. I was also a bit disappointed when thinking of how much I have loved director Edgar Wright’s other films. “Shaun of the Dead” is one of my top ten favorite films and “Hot Fuzz” is no slouch either. I suppose this may have raised the bar a bit too high for this film and I felt that it fell short.

Worth a watch, but I’m still not sure what all of the fuss is about.

3 out of 5 stars.

With the exception of his documentaries, I have watched all of director Todd Phillips movies more than once. Or so I thought. “School For Scoundrels” managed to sneak right by me. In order to make things right and keep my love for Mr. Phillips strong, I sat down with this film expecting to have my funny bone tickled. Sad to say, I stood up disappointed and confused.

As the film opens, we are introduced to Roger (Jon Heder) and shown just how much of a loser at life he is. Much like every loser in film Roger pines for a girl who is out of his league. Amanda (Jacinda Barrett) lives down the hall from Roger and even though her roommate (Sarah Silverman) thinks he is comparable to Jeffrey Dahmer, Amanda sees the sweet guy the lies underneath his over done awkwardness. After being fired by his little brother from the Big Brothers program, the director (David Cross) suggests that he call a phone number that will change his life. Once he has called the number, he is enrolled in a class taught by Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton). The point of the class is to give this group of losers the tools of confidence.

Roger begins to pull ahead of the pack and show remarkable promise. Once this happens, Dr. P makes it his mission to knock him down off of his pedestal. He does so by romancing Amanda. This sets up the race to see who will get the girl and the battle of nice guy versus asshole.

Why was I disappointed? Simply put, I didn’t like this movie. I wasn’t expecting that. The movie took plenty of shots and being funny and never really delivered. I felt that the drama of the relationship played too heavy of a part. I also didn’t really connect with any of the characters. I found myself bored and not really interested in the end result, which was totally predictable. Don’t get me wrong, you can have a predictable story but you need to have the comedy come in strong so that you don’t care that it has been done before.

Maybe I set the bar too high before viewing this movie. Todd Phillips gave us “Road Trip”, “Old School”, “The Hangover”, and “Due Date”. I dare you to watch any of those films and not love them. When I compare this film to those four, it feels like I’m comparing eating at Burger King with fine dining.

Why was I confused? Aside from the actors already mentioned we had appearances from the likes of Ben Stiller, Horatio Sans, Todd Louiso (aka Dick from “High Fidelity”), Matt Walsh, Paul Scheer, and Aziz Ansari. With all of these funny people around, shouldn’t the film be funny? You would think so and in this case you would be wrong.

I’ll still always love Todd Phillips. Now I just have to lovingly look past this film. Kind of like how your mom says you’re just big boned, when really you’re a fat ass.

Feel free to skip this one.

1.5 out of 5 stars.

This movie had a lot of selling points for me. I love dark comedy, Judy Greer, and Zack Galifianakis. So with much excitement I fired this film up on Netflix instant and gave it go. I’m happy to say that when the end credits rolled I wasn’t disappointed.

“Visioneers” takes place in a dystopian future where the Jeffers corporation has become the most successful and influential company in history. Mr. Jeffers has instituted a practice of mindless productivity to lead it’s employees to happiness both on and off the clock. Everything is kept in its right place until one morning George Washington Winsterhammerman (Galifianakis) is informed that one of his coworkers has suddenly exploded. The news reports that over 100,000 others have also exploded and the common thread is a report of having dreams.

George becomes fearful because he has been having dreams lately and displaying other symptoms as well. He begins to see doctors and institutes the help of a life coach as well. All of this activity in a normally mundane existence forces George and eventually his wife (Judy Greer) to reevaluate their lives. In a world where free thinking is frowned upon, their conclusions end up making pretty big waves.

This movie got a lot of things right. For me the balance of drama and comedy was flawless. It seems like films can rely to heavy on one or the other and that wasn’t the case here. There are equal opportunities to both laugh and cry. Zach blew me away with his acting. He stepped out of the box that we expect him to be in. Instead of being the pudgy and inappropriately funny man, he delivers a complex performance that reminded me of Jim Carrey in “Eternal Sunshine”. I can only hope that he gets more of these roles in the future. Judy Greer is also great as his out of touch housewife that treats daytime TV as her model for living. There is a point where she snaps and you can’t help but empathise with her desperation to actually feel something.

The one negative thing I’ll say of the film is that I found to be a bit too preachy at times. I feel like any reasonable adult knows that too much tv is bad for you and ignoring your emotions is unhealthy. Although it does serve the purpose of showing how once you become too comfortable with complacency, you ultimately stop growing as a person.

All in all, a great film that I plan on watching again.

4 out 5 stars.

I can remember seeing the trailer for this film and then it seemed like it disappeared for a few years. Still intrigued I decided to give it a go.

“Fanboys” takes place way back when in 1998. A group of high school friends are reunited at a Halloween party marking the first time in three years that they have all shared space. Eric (Sam Huntington) seems to be the only one of his friends to have matured. He is now a successful car salesman who is about to take the reigns of his dad’s company. It’s this growing up that has isolated him from the rest of his comrades. The glue that has always held them together is their love for the movie ”Star Wars”. Now that Linus (Chris Marquette) has been given only four months to live thanks to cancer, and ”The Phantom Menace” doesn’t debut for another six months, the friends decide to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a rough cut of the film. Completing the foursome are Hutch (Dan Fogler) and Windows (Jay Baruchel).

This movie is a typical road trip movie that doesn’t really break any molds in that department. We have some trouble with the law, mix ups with locals, hi-jinks with drugs, and toss in a hot girl (Kristen Bell), and the recipe is complete. There are a bunch of cameos including some of the cast of “Star Wars” and ole William Shatner provides the blueprints and entry codes to Skywalker Ranch for the boys. Unfortunately the laughs delivered in the film aren’t enough to make it stand out from ordinary.

It almost feels like having a built in audience of millions of “Star Wars” fans was a hinder to the creative output. There are certainly enough obscure references to the film and having Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams make appearances seem to be the right move to make. However, if you’re like me you have a basic understanding of “Star Wars” and the jokes of super nerd caliber are lost. This leaves the rest of the humor to pick up the slack. While it hits in certain spots, it too often misses or fails to register due to the fact that we have already seen this stuff before.

On a positive note, the film didn’t lose itself in the dramtic potential of the cancer angle. It is touched upon when it serves best and not overdone. A mentionable feat considering most comedies over do the emotional sub plot.

Not a must see, but not a total waste either. If you’re a super fan of “Star Wars”, chances are you’ll enjoy this film more than I did.

2.5 out 5 stars. 

When I saw the previews, I was pretty excited for this film. Mankind battling aliens to avoid a hostile takeover seems like a good time. It also looked like a lot of money was thrown at the film, so I believed that it had potential for enjoyment. I have never been more wrong about anything in my entire life.

What are first beleived to be meteors and then turn out to be alien space crafts crash land on major cities located on coastlines throughout the world. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) is a marine who is coming to the close of his turbulent career that has lasted twenty years. With the recent developments, he is forced into the field one more time. He is assigned to a troop where the commanding officer has never been in the field and is as green as you can get. Their mission is to rescue civilians from a police station before an air strike quarantines the area. The film follows the troops as they deal with an unknown enemy and figure out how to take them down.

Even reading the paragraph above, I still think that this sounds like a movie that could be worth watching. What I got instead was every single played out cliche from a military movie mixed with a movie that wished it could be as good as “District 9”. The acting may have been amazing (even though it wasn’t) and it still wouldn’t have saved the awful writing.

The film is supposed to have the feel of a documentary and ends up coming across as just a mess. The camera doesn’t ever stay still long enough to give the special effects merit. I’m sure that the intent is to keep you guessing as to what the aliens look like. What happens instead is that you “feel” the effects but never really see them. I found this to be quite annoying, because in a film where the dialogue is shit, some awesome visual effects could have saved the film a bit. When a film clocks in at just under two hours and you have nothing to cling to your only hope comes from seeing the final credits.

The aliens probably have about ten total minutes of screen time. We find out that they have guns attached to their hands. Seems like that would make every day tasks pretty impossible, or maybe it’s an alien power to be really good at using your feet. Who knows? The one thing I didn’t mind is that the aliens were portrayed as a tactical military entity. That is the only positive thing I will say about this film.

Skip this. Pretend it never happened and go re-watch “District 9”.

.5 out of 5 stars.

For those of us who have always wondered what Jason Statham’s hair looks like, we need wonder no more. “Revolver” is a Guy Ritchie film that most everyone hated. I’m not one of those people.

Jake Green (Jason Statham) has recently been released from seven years of solitary confinement. Now that he is free, his primary focus is to seek revenge on the man who put him there, corrupt casino owner Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta). During his time on the inside, his cell was sandwiched between two fellow cons who developed a flawless formula to win every game. The men had promised to take Mr. Green with them, but instead leave him with the formula and literally disappear.

Mr. Green and his brothers head to Macha’s casino and end up walking out with a large amount of money. Upon leaving, Mr. Green crosses paths with a stranger who hands him a business card urging him to take the elevator. Due to his fear of tight spaces, he goes with the stairs. He passes out and wakes up in the hospital. He soon learns that he has only three days to live. The stranger from the casino (Vincent Pastore) and his partner (Andre Benjamin) assure Mr. Green that if he does exactly what he is told they can keep him safe.

While most reviewers found the plot too conveluded, I enjoyed not really knowing what was going on. It kept me guessing and wanting more. To me, this is a sign of a well made film. Rather than feeling done with the movie as soon as it finished, my first thought was “I need to watch this again”. It seemed like a lot of negativity was directed at an action film trying to be cerebral. Kind of like it needs to be one or the other. I felt like I had my cake and ate it too. If an action film never tried to be a thinker, we wouldn’t have “The Usual Suspects” or ”Pulp Fiction”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this film is the best example of the concept, I’m just saying that it should be given a break.

Jason Statham was well cast and I felt his acting was up to par. Wasn’t so happy with Andre 3000 though. He fits the profile of sinister yet effeminate well, I just don’t think he can act at all. I would have like to see the part go to Laurence Fishburne. Mark Strong is in the film as Sorter, a man who never misses a shot. I love Mark Strong in anything so this was an easy sell. Another highlight of the casting for me was seeing Ray Liotta. Say what you will, but I love the guy. I will say he spent a little too much time without his clothes on for my liking.

All in all, I say this film is worth a watch and then you can decide if it merits a second viewing.

3.5 out 5 stars.