One Day
I don't know if it's better to have read the book before seeing this one or not...it has a stunner of a twist, which is less affecting in the movie because you know it's coming, whereas in the book it leaves you gasping for air. So there is that. However, the movie does make it a terribly one-sided story, preferring to focus on this couple's life more from the guy's perspective. And it does work, to a point. Ann Hathaway's accent is SHOCKING, even worse than Leonardo Di Caprio's accent in Blood Diamond. Seriously. Jim Sturgess was a revelation though - he was a fantastic. And hot. Hotness covers a multitude of sins.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I don't see what the point of a movie is that has the main plot point play out over the end credits. So stupid. It had a few good points but mostly it was stupid.
Transformers: Dark side of the moon
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Oh my god, what a line, what a performance. It was so good! I totally called the twist, which I almost never do so I was really chuffed about that. There were a couple of heartstopping moments, but the movie fell down in the worst way around the whole love angle. Seriously, we're asked to believe that Sam will put himself and everybody else in danger for a character we only met half an hour ago and who we don't like at all. All she does is shriek and wear inappropriate dresses. Seriously. Feed her to Starscream and get it over with. If you're going to go for the damsel in distress angle, at least make the audience buy it. Other than that: epic. It was so good.
Horrible Bosses
The difference between this movie, which was ok, and Bridesmaids, which I loved with an insane love, is that Horrible Bosses was clearly written by MEN and Bridesmaids was clearly written by incredibly witty and intelligent WOMEN. Horrible Bosses was ok, but not nearly as laugh out loud awesome as Bridesmaids.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Oh...I was so nervous before seeing Harry Potter. What if they fucked it up? What if they ruined my favourite parts? It could have been awful...but it wasn't. It rocked! Four favourite things. First, Snape. He was incredible - totally owned his death scene, totally rocked the ambiguity of his character. Your heart just broke for him. Second, the Malfoys, who make a sneaky exit over the bridge right before the final showdown. I loved that no matter how evil the Malfoys are, basically it'll all about family for them, and they were going to make it through no matter what. Awesome. Three, the scene where the teachers are casting spells and bringing down the protective net around the school. It was the perfect balance of dramatic and scary, and really let's you get a sense of where they are. This is It. Also awesome. Four, the scene where Harry uses the resurrection stone and walks into the forest with his parents, Sirius and Lupin. I cried when I hit this scene in the book. Harry is so alone, and then his family is there, and what can I say, it was 4am and I was emotional. I don't know what my excuse was at an 8pm movie showing, but I cried anyway. Less than at the end of Toy Story 3 though. Those scenes made the whole thing amazing. But Prisoner of Azkaban remains my favourite of the whole series, books and movies.
Bridesmaids
Oh my god, so funny. As in nearly cracked a rib funny. My friend Laura and I were rocking backwards and forwards in our seats laughing. And it was all because of the writing. The dialogue was so spot on. The relationships between the women were so finely observed and reported, it was excruciating as well as funny. The grossest jokes told not shown, and that made such a difference, because it made it even funnier to imagine what the hell was going on. And the sweet cop and all his sweetness! So buying this movie on DVD.
Larry Crowne
I loved this movie and I absolutely did not expect to. But it was a movie with an amazing script. The writing was so stunning, it papered over some unbelievable aspects of the plot. But what this movie came down to was timing. It's about people taking risks at the right time, meeting people at the right moment, and using their opportunities wisely. It's about being a catalyst for your own success. It was so good, seriously.
Bad Teacher
I'm still vaguely ashamed that I thought this was so hysterical. I was clearly in that kind of mood. But it was funny - the Justin Timberlake dryhumping scene? It's on my personal list of funniest movie moments ever.
Pirates of the Caribbean 4
So crap. Crapper than crapper. The crappiest crap that ever crapped a crap movie out and then crapped all over it. And there are mermaids.
Green Lantern
Had a lot going for it but tried to fit entirely too much into an hour and a half, and then lost it completely as a result. I was extremely disappointed by it. And by Ryan Reynolds, who I have kind of a soft spot for.
X-Men First Class
Amazing. Incredible. Mind blowing. Emotional. So damn good and awesome, it has obliterated all the crappy X-Men movies that have been released since the first great one from my mind. And the Wolverine cameo made my day. I want to see it again, but I think it gave you the perfect explanation of how they all ended up where they were in the series. Why does Magneto despise humans? Why can't Charles ever let go of Erik? Why in spite of everything do you actually prefer Magneto for his open hatred, and distrust Charles' political manipulations, even if they are for the good. It was fascinating.
And that's it. Well, I have to do the books, but that can wait until tomorrow when I'm trying to work avoid.
1 comment:
Wow - I'm completely with you on the movies that I've seen, out of this list. I'm sad that Rise of the Planet of the Apes is stupid, though; I'd initially planned to see it, but it doesn't sound worth it.
Horrible Bosses was clearly written by MEN and Bridesmaids was clearly written by incredibly witty and intelligent WOMEN.
I'd agree with this, but I don't think this was even all there was to it - I mean, Horrible Bosses focused on the internal lives of men (like 90% of movies - sorry, sorry, I digress :)), so it's not like the male writers were trying and failing to capture something they HADN'T experienced. I think that a better male writer would have been able to do something better with the premise. (Which has a lot of promise - Strangers on a Train, but with terrible bosses? Sign me up!) To me, it just felt really... mainstream, very cliched. Kevin Spacey's character started off as a really good portrait of the kind of psychotic boss who can get inside your head, leaving you a neurotic wreck, but then he just derailed, and the other two were far too unrealistic to really dislike. And don't get me started on the whole sexual-harassment-is-funny-if-it's-female-on-male thing. Just, no.
[On Bridesmaids] The dialogue was so spot on. The relationships between the women were so finely observed and reported, it was excruciating as well as funny.
YES. From the very first conversation between two women, I knew I was going to love this movie. I've NEVER heard dialogue that sounded so much like my friends in a movie before. The highest praise I can give Bridesmaids, btw, is that afterwards, M. and I sat down in a pub and had one of the most awesome and necessary and tearful conversations of our entire friendship. Come to think of it, I should send the screenwriter a letter saying that.
[On Green Lantern] I was extremely disappointed by it. And by Ryan Reynolds, who I have kind of a soft spot for.
This is a shame; it's another one I'd been planning to see, but once I started hearing feedback about it, I figured I'd wait for the DVD (if I see it at all). I love Ryan Reynolds normally, but I don't think he's one of those actors who can always rise above the material (maybe because he's still pretty young). What kind of stings about this one, for me, is that Marvel were talking about Reynolds to star in an upcoming Deadpool movie. And after Green Lantern bombed, it's suddenly, "Deadpool movie? What Deadpool movie?" *hides script* Which sucks, because I KNOW Reynolds can play Deadpool.
[On X-Men - it's Catherine Comments on Everything Day!] Why in spite of everything do you actually prefer Magneto for his open hatred, and distrust Charles' political manipulations, even if they are for the good.
THIS. :)
And of course, it makes me very happy that you liked Transformers. :) And yes, you COMPLETELY called the twist, and I didn't! *shakes fist* Of course, I'm with you on the love story aspect. "Feed her to Starscream and get it over with." HANDS UP EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO SEE THAT!
("Sam! Where is your homework on screenwriting cliches?" "Sorry, Teacher, Starscream ate my disappointing love interest.")
FINALLY watched Deathly Hallows, Part 1 the other night - just in time, as a couple of second-run theatres are still showing Part 2, and after your review, I'm really looking forward to it!
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