A Serious Man

Michael Stuhlbarg stars as Larry Gopnik in the Coen brothers' latest film.  This film is a little more quirky and a little less mainstream.  The same Coen problems exist, namely troubled people and money issues.

Anyhow, Larry is a college professor whose wife is leaving him after "growing close" with a man named Sy Ableman.  On top of that, one of his students is trying to buy his passing of his class.  From there more issues ensue as his family and others seem to make his life worse.

This movie was unique.  It had the Coens' touch, it was brilliantly acted, yet it just seemed lacking.  It lacked a complete picture in my opinion, and in a non mystery movie, that doesn't make much sense.

This isn't anything mainstream, and you might not like it, but give it a try.  I can't really reveal more, but don't go in expecting a lot of action, or to laugh much, although you do at times.

I rate this movie a 6.6 out of 10.

Powder Blue

Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta.  A cast like that should mean a good movie.  Well not so fast.

Powder Blue is attempting to be a movie like Crash.  However, it fails in many ways.  Jessica Biel plays Rose Johnny, a stripper (she gets topless) who is having a terrible time but trying to raise money for her sick son.  Ray Liotta plays Jack, who is trying to force his way into her life.  Then we have Qwerty (I guess his parents liked the keyboard) who is a mortician who is terrible with girls.  How do they get connected?  Jack is Rose-Johnny's estranged father, and Qwerty accidentally runs over Rose Johnny's dog.  From there, their lives intermingle.  Makes sense.  Oh and Patrick Swayze players her creep boss, but he's a minor character.

Now comes the strange part, Forest Whitaker's only involvement with other characters is that he plays a person who lost his wife in an accident and is terribly depressed and wants to pay someone to kill him so he can be with her in heaven.  He stumbles upon Qwerty and tries to get him to kill him, but he refuses.  Other than that, he is his own story, not related to any other characters, nor do the characters he come into contact with have any connection to the previous characters.  Odd.  Kind of like 2 movies running at once.

This movie just didn't develop enough, and it wasn't realistic enough.  I could never see something like this happening in real life.  The acting wasn't bad itself, though. Whitaker was great.  Liotta was his usual self.  Basically if you are bored, give it a run.  Or if you want to see Jessica Biel topless.  If you wan't an interlocking set of stories that is amazing, go see Crash.

I rate this movie a 5.7 out of 10.

Youth In Revolt

Classic case of Michael Cera being Michael Cera, right?  Yes and no.  Just putting this out there, if you expect Zach Galifianakis or Justin Long in a lot of the movie, you won't find it.  It's Cera as Nick and Portia Doubleday as Sheeni.

Cera plays the usual awkward self.  This time, in adaption of the book Youth In Revolt by C.D. Payne, he seems to mature a bit.  Nick is a somewhat cultured, nerdy kid from California who has no luck with the girls until he meets Sheeni while away at 'vacation.'  Somehow, they connect, and he falls quickly in love and would do anything for her.  After going back home, they concoct a way to get his dad to move close to her and for him to get kicked out of his mom's house to live with his dad and ultimately see her.  To do this, he creates a "bad ass" persona (himself with an attitude, mustache, and who smokes) named Francois.  In what seems like a Fight Club spoof the two personalities interact and get Cera into a bunch of wild, but memorable situations in his attempt to be with Sheeni.

The movie was very well written and pretty nicely directed.  Both which were surprising to me, but I never read the book.  Cera does a wonderful job.  I wouldn't call it a riot, but this movie made me laugh quite a bit, and will surprise some of the older moviegoers as they will enjoy it, too.

Light-hearded, clever, funny.  Give it a shot.

I rate this movie a 7.7 out of 10.

Up In The Air

Where to start, not sure.  I'll approach it from the cast first.  George Clooney nailed his role, perfect.  Vera Farmiga did, too.  The two of them had great chemistry and pulled you into the story. Jason Bateman was the slightly sleazy (appearance), but successful boss of Clooney, and newcomer Anna Kendrick.  Kendrick was above average, but not impressive, and sure as hell can't cry in movies. (I hope her scene was deliberate)  J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifiankis, and Danny McBride all played tiny roles, and that kind of upset me.

Moving on, the direction of this movie was great. Reitman deserves all the praise.  The idea behind the story and the way Clooney portrays his character really get your emotions, even though he pretends to have none. The story is about a man who lives 'up in the air' or he's travelling 300 days a year.  He plays a guy who works for a company that fires employees of other companies.  He is the best at his game, and his time is about to come to an end due to new technology forcing him to live a more grounded life.  He begins to question what he's been used to all his life, and the story really shows it.  It leaves you thinking.

Overall, I can't say I thought this was a top film.  Its a top story and idea, and was wonderfully acted and directed, but its not a movie I'd say wow to.

I rate this movie 8.0 out of 10

Big Fan

If you have enjoyed the depressingly fantastic movie The Wrestler, you will definitely enjoy Robert D. Siegel's directorial debut, Big Fan, starring Patton Oswalt.  He wrote both movies.


Big Fan is the story of a 40 something year old man living at home with his mom still, who works at a parking garage and has nothing going for him...except his passion for the New York Giants, and their star defensive lineman, Quantrell Bishop.  Everything is going well until he sees his hero at a gas station and follows him to a club to say hi.  After a misunderstanding, a drunk Bishop attacks the hapless Paul (Patton Oswalt), leaving him in the hospital.  From there, all Paul wants to do is return his life to normal, yet reporters, his family, and an investigator all want answers.  Meanwhile, his Giants begin to struggle once Bishop gets suspended.


The movie really gets into just how obsessed and disturbed Paul is, and how delusional he becomes with reality.  Oswalt's acting isn't brilliant but its definitely superb.  The movie has you feeling bad for him while at the same time realizing that he has some serious issues, and is viewed as pathetic.  The only bad acting comes from Jonathan Hamm, who plays Quantrell Bishop, but this is his first credited role, so its understandable.


Basically, this movie makes you feel like you felt after watching The Wrestler, but it doesn't make you feel like you've watched the same movie.  The character is different in as many ways as he is similar to Mickey Rourke's.


If you don't mind watching a good movie that didn't get that much buzz, please give this a go.


I rate this 8.5 out of 10.

The Invention Of Lying

New to DVD, The Invention Of Lying stars Rickey Gervais and Jennifer Garner.  Gervais plays a man named Mark Bellison who is having a terrible time with life in a world where lies do not exist.  So everyone is brutally honest with him and it makes him more depressed.  Down on his luck and having no money, he goes to the bank during a time in which the computer systems are down.  Since lying doesn't exist, the teller asks him how much money he had.  Something comes over him and he lies about it, says he has just a little bit more than he does.  Just then the computer turns on, and says he has a different amount.  Since the teller doesn't know what a lie is, she says its the system's error and gives him the number he said he had.  From there, Mark realizes that he can turn his life around the way he wants it by just saying things are the way he wants it.

This leads him to moral issues as well as some other trouble.  The humor is dry, if that is your type of movie.  Don't expecting huge laughs, however.  Also, what bothered me was the preachiness of the movie. I won't go into details but in a world without lies, people don't really have religion.  Why, I'm not sure... but they don't.  And a lie sparks it up.

That aside, this movie was quite a downer from what I expected, especially with the cast they had.  The movie is also rather long for such a shallow and under-developed plot.  But if you are a huge fan of Gervais, I'd still recommend it, if not... watch at your own risk.

I rate this movie 6.3 out of 10.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is originally a book by Alice Sebold.  I'll start by admitting I did not read it.  I don't read much fiction.  However, this caught my eye as many people said it was an amazing book.  On top of that, Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, ehh King Kong) was directing it.

The cast was decent, everything you'd expect out of Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and an elder Susan Surandon.  Stanley Tucci is almost unrecognizable as Suzie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan)'s killer.  He does a terrific job, as does the young 15 year old.

The movie is not very graphic, but does do a good job of explaining all of the events.

The premise is of Suzie Salmon getting murdered by a person from the neighborhood but her soul is stuck in an in-between of earth and heaven and people can feel her presence, and she is on a quest to be at peace with her death, as is her family.  She almost leaves an aura of clues about her unsolved murder throughout the movie until suspicions of who killed her arise out of her family.

The concept is wild in thought, and tough to execute.  While Jackson did the best that was possible, this movie is truly one of those movies where it should have stayed a book.  I think some tasks are just too much. Also, to fully develop an in-between is an abstract concept that is left best to the mind, not to the eyes.

While I feel this movie wasn't a let down, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be, going in with no previous thoughts on the book/movie.

I rate this movie a 6.9 out of 10.

Avatar

James Cameron has done it again, and has set new precedent.  The mind who brought you Terminator (1 & 2), Alien, True Lies, and Titanic is back.  Although not quite the storyline of the Terminator series, Cameron delivers a masterpiece which had a nice flow from beginning to end, and at nearly three hours that is hard to do.

Visually this movie is at a level where no one else could touch.  To see this in iMax is a must.  The Na'vi creatures who inhabit the planet of Pandora as well as the planet itself are stunning.  Not the prettiest, but still amazing.  The whole world engulfs your mind in all its 3-D beauty.

Sam Worthington was great as a paraplegic forced into a new world where he can walk again.  Actually all of the acting, with the exception of Michelle Rodriguez was great.  However, it wasn't her fault as her character had almost no development.  Actually her role, although understandable was one of the few writing flaws in the script as there was no shaping of who she was, let alone why she did what she did.

Like I had mentioned earlier, the storyline is very guessable, but most action flicks are.  I think Cameron upset me there a little bit, because I expect more out of him.  But, to be fair, he is still a master storyteller.

Another question...how did Sam Worthington go from nothing to lead in tons of blockbuster movies?

I rate this movie 9.1 out of 10. (visuals bumped up the story a little, they were that good.)