When I first began this blog and had no idea what to blog about, I would post a review of each movie I saw at the theater. However, after a while I found I was allowing this to be a substitute for creativity, even though my superb taste in entertainment and finely-honed observational skills no doubt made the reviews inestimably valuable to my vast readership. So, in order to assist my efforts in creativity, I set a self-imposed temporary moratorium on movie review posts. However, realizing that no doubt my reviews have been keenly missed and that I missed a couple movies along the way even before this hiatus, I decided this evening to do a single-post mass review of the movies I have been watching.
So, this post will include my reviews of the following movies:
- Another Gay Movie
- Click
- The Devil Wears Prada
- End of the Spear
- Firewall
- Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Pink Panther
- Saw 2 (DVD)
- Step Up
- You, Me, and Dupree
Hotter than a night with Ebert...
Note: Click on the large movie posters or the movie name to see the trailer for that movie.
Another Gay Movie
Take every gay (or lesbian) sterotype, mix in every sexual innuendo you can imagine, and determine to have a good time never taking yourself seriously, and you pretty much have the recipe that was followed to create Another Gay Movie. Few movies will parallel this in flat-out raunchiness, but if you expect and accept that, the movie is a lot of fun. There is no moral to this tale, boys and girls. It's flat-out crass sex and men the whole time.
A couple highlights from the film:
- The Guest Stars - From porn star Matthew Rush to gay Survivor winner Richard Hatch to comedian Ant to talk show host Graham Norton to Kids in the Hall alumnus Scott Thompson to Boy Meets Boy leading man James Getzlaff to drop-dead gorgeous Noah's Arc star Darryl Stephens, this movie is a who's who of pop gay notables. While I could have done without ever seeing Richard Hatch's uncensored penis, Graham Norton's parts were disturbingly hilarious (pun intended), and it was fascinating to hear Matthew Rush speak rather than, um, grunt.
- Darryl Stephens - Did I mention him already? Well, he's worth a second mention. Two of the most memorable scenes in the movie involve him....yummy.
- The 4 Friends - Actors Jonah Blechman, Michael Carbonaro, Jonathan Chase, and Mitch Morris all do a superb job as the four main characters, gay friends who pledge to "do the big A" by the end of the summer. I was not familiar with any of them before watching the movie, but Carbonaro (the best-looking of the bunch) is a wonderful comedian and is entertaining throughout (and is a perfectly-fitting member of one of the aforementioned "memorable" scenes). Also, Blechman (who plays over-the-top-flaming-queen Nico) and Morris (who plays total geek Griff) are surprisingly quite attractive when not in costume (click to see non-costumed pics of Blechman and Morris).
One trivia note that will interest about 2 of you...Mitch Morris appeared as a guest star in the episode "As You Were" in the sixth season of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the final episode featuring ultra-beautiful Marc Blucas as Buffy's sometimes-beau Riley Finn.
Oh, and if you want to know my favorite part of Another Gay Movie (besides any scene involving Darryl Stephens), it's the part that made the hopeless romantic in me smile (you will know when you see it).
Click
With Adam Sandler, I tend to either love or hate his movies, with little in-between. Loved 50 First Dates and Mr. Deeds, hated The Waterboy and The Wedding Singer. This movie would be an exception to that. I certainly didn't hate the movie, but neither was I rolling in the aisles in laughter. It was good for a chuckle or two and not particularly repulsive, but the most memorable thing about the movie was the moving dramatic moment at the end, where I actually cried. Not that my getting emotional during a movie is a rare thing, but it wasn't expected in an Adam Sandler movie. So, overall a decent show, but just save it as a backup in your future Adam Sandler movie marathons.
On another note, I thought their ad campaign was clever (click to enlarge):
The Devil Wears Prada
I love Meryl Streep, and I have often enjoyed Anne Hathaway's movies, so I figured this would be a pretty decent movie. And it was just that... pretty decent. As expected, Streep was brilliant and Hathaway good, but ultimately the movie was fairly forgettable. I did like Emily Blunt's character, though, and I liked the ending, where they avoided the cliched "change of heart" that just would not have worked with Streep's character.
End of the Spear
The based-on-a-true-story of Christian missionaries who were killed in Ecuador by Auca Indians, this movie is most notable for the controversey surrounding gay actor Chad Allen's playing the main character missionary Nate Saint. The movie itself was interesting for me, having grown up in a very conservative Christian home and hearing this story my whole life (even having developed a good friendship with an elderly gentleman who was close friends with some of the men in this story during college). But, as is the case with so many things when religion and gays mix, I was saddened by the less-than-loving barbs that were thrown from both sides over Allen's involvement. In general, though, this movie will be of interest primarily to those who have an appreciation for the religious mission of the people in the story.
Firewall
Seldom can you go wrong with a Harrison Ford movie, and I have been a fan of Paul Bettany since I first saw his brilliant performance in A Knight's Tale. This is a very straightforward action/suspense movie, nothing groundbreaking but well-done and thoroughly enjoyable.
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
If you cut out everything in this movie except for Scrat the Squirrel, it would still be worth watching. While some of the chemistry of the 3 main characters was lacking in this sequel to the hilarious first Ice Age movie (due to the fact that they are all friends now and don't have the tension of the first movie that lent to some great interactions), the story makes up for it with a string of funny moments, notably the part where Sid finds the tribe that he mistakenly thinks is flattering and harmless. But, as with the first movie, Scrat simply steals the show. After viewing his scenes, as Sid might say, "I just did something involuntary... and messy."
Little Miss Sunshine
Very few times in my life have I gone to see a movie knowing absolutely nothing about it. But such was the case with my unexpected viewing of Little Miss Sunshine. My friend and I drove to the theater intending to watch a different movie, but when we arrived, we saw that there had been a small fire in part of the theater. It was nothing serious, but the fire department still had not given the all-clear yet. So, we decided to go get dinner and then come back. When we returned, the theater was once again open, but the movie we intended to see was not starting another screening for a couple hours. So, on a whim, we decided to watch this movie instead.
We could not have chosen better had we tried. Although it seems to have been given very little publicity, this movie is classic from start to finish. What struck me most is how completely and utterly different each of the six main characters are, and yet how believable they are as a family (albeit an extremely dysfunctional one). Also, the characters are each unique, unlike most any other movie characters I can think of. There are so many things I liked about the movie that I am having difficulty deciding what to mention, so I will just say, make sure you see this movie. And, the talent competition scene is one of the funniest things I have seen in recent memory.
The posters for this movie are great as well, though they will only be appreciated by those who have seen the movie:
The Pink Panther
While I love Steve Martin, this movie might as well not exist except for his performance. His acting was funny and dead-on as always, but very little else of the movie was memorable. In fact, writing this several months later, I'm having trouble remembering much else of the movie besides some of his funny gags (one of which was classic...the "camoflauge" he and his partner wore). Steve Martin fans, watch it; otherwise, there's plenty of better movies to see this year.
Saw 2 (DVD)
I'm mentioning this movie just because I watched it a week ago on DVD (over the course of several days in 5-minute increments). I am NOT a scary movie fan. I can count on one hand the number of horror films I have seen in the past 10 years. But, when the first Saw movie came out, I gave in to the incessant pressure of a friend who insisted that I needed to see it. And, although I hated the suspense of it, I had to admit the first movie was amazing. Probably the highest compliment I can give the first Saw movie is that, without anyone's prompting, I rented the sequel.
Now, I have two friends who often share with me their movie recommendations. One of them loved the movie, the other hated it. I fall somewhere in between.
Negatives - The "puzzles" that Jigsaw gives the people are not nearly as tightly-woven to the plot as with the first movie. The whole concept of the main storyline of the first movie is so brilliant that I guess it would be difficult to match. Still, I was hoping they would do better. Another negative is that the "big surprise" at the end was given away with very obvious and unnecessary hints throughout the movie. Instead of downplaying what would be revealed (which would have helped with the shock value at the end), they inexplicably dropped very obvious hints that anyone paying attention would at least suspect what happened at the end to be a possiblity. Also, the behavior of some of the characters is not very believable.
Positives - I liked the father/son aspect of the storyline and how it played throughout. Also, in spite of the less-than-surprising ending, I liked the concept of it pretty much. And, some of the traps that Jigsaw creates (particularly the opening scene and the demise of Emmanuelle Vaugier's character) are disturbingly fascinating.
Step Up
I just saw this movie tonight, and I give it mixed reviews. Really I have two main complaints, and beyond that I really enjoyed it. First complaint, the story drags a bit, particularly near the beginning, taking too long to really get going. Second complaint, the "best friend" of the main character is poorly written, with his motivations and reactions very contrived and unrealistic. He gets angry with little reason then forgives with little explanation and then suddenly become philosophical with little provocation.
On the good side, I liked Channing Tatum a lot. I knew very little about him, so I was quite impressed to see him do all the dancing himself. Quite impressive. The movie is essentially your typical "opposite worlds collide" movie, where rough-and-tumble Tatum (from the wrong side of tracks) meets and falls for refined and sophisticated Jenna Dewan (from the upper crust). What I loved about this movie is that one element is not overtaken by the other. My favorite way this is seen is in the music of the movie. I loved the way they fused classical music with the beats from the street. Neither is sacrificed, and the result is a lot of fun.
If you like music and dancing, you'll enjoy this show for those elements at least, if not for the story itself (which is pretty cookie-cutter average but not obnoxious).
A side note, throughout the whole movie, I kept thinking that Tatum was the guy who starred in the television show Prison Break. Something in the back of my mind questioned that, though, so I looked it up online tonight, and I see that the Prison Break star is actually Wentworth Miller. But take a look at these pictures and tell me if they don't look like they were twins separated at birth:
You, Me, and Dupree
Owen Wilson is one of my favorite comedians, and Michael Douglas can be unexpectedly funny. But I'm not a huge fan of Kate Hudson nor Matt Dillon. And ultimately, this movie is forgettable apart from Wilson's performance. And even Wilson has had better days. Still, he's one of those actors who is funny without really even trying that hard, so you'll find yourself smiling on occasion during this show, as long as you don't doze off.
Previous Reviews:
- Cars
- The DaVinci Code
- Inside Man
- Kinky Boots
- Lucky Number Slevin
- Mission Impossible 3
- Over the Hedge
- Stick It
- Superman Returns
- Thank You For Smoking
- United 93
- X-Men 3
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Lucky Number Slevin
- United 93
- Inside Man
- Kinky Boots
- Thank You For Smoking
- Superman Returns
- Cars
- Another Gay Movie
- Step Up
- Over the Hedge
- X-Men 3
- Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
- The Devil Wears Prada
- Firewall
- Mission: Impossible 3
- The DaVinci Code
- Stick It
- Click
- You, Me, and Dupree
- The Pink Panther
- End of the Spear
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