Death at a Funeral

I haven't seen the original so no comparisons, but I thought this was quite funny and enjoyable. It has plenty of absurd situations that aren't particularly in good taste, but as long as it is funny I don't mind. And it was. It dives right in from the get go and doesn't let up. James Marsden got on my nerves a little with his over the top performance, but Zoe Saldana makes up for it. I'm becoming a fan of Columbus Short as well, who carried "Armored" all the way through and has the chops for comedy as well. Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan do their typical shtick while Chris Rock is dialed down mostly, which worked. Danny Glover was a little annoying too, but his character isn't in it much. It's worth the 90 minute investment if you like this sort of comedy or the cast. I liked both, for the most part.

Kick Ass

A slightly disappointing film for me just because of the excessively optimistic word of mouth. I'm not saying it is bad in any way, I'm just saying I was expecting my socks to get blown off and it didn't happen. I'm a fan of Matthew Vaughn's previous movies (Layer Cake, Stardust) so I was very excited about this one. It's nice to have a tongue in cheek superhero movie that doesn't take itself seriously for once, but it kind of abandons it as soon as Red Mist comes into play. I did still enjoy all of the characters (especially Nic Cage as Big Daddy and Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl, who easily steals the show as soon as she hits the screen). Mark Strong is typecast as the villain (he's been doing that quite a bit lately), but he's still decent. There's plenty of great action sequences, lots of hardcore laughs, and even a little romance mixed in. It makes you care for the characters and their circumstances by the end too, which is nice. Like I said before, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything extraordinary nor did it do anything to elevate the superhero genre.

Brooklyn's Finest

I loved Training Day so I gave this one a shot despite bad word of mouth and after watching it I don't quite understand the hate. The gritty and realistic tone reminds me of Training Day and it fits well with these cop movies that Fuqua comes up with. The cast is excellent and every single one of them gives a standout performance. It's a great ensemble. The 3 stories don't come together at the end in a meaningful way like I thought they would, but that's one of my only complaints. Each story is interesting individually and that kept me involved throughout the somewhat long running time. I guess these cop movies must just be my thing, but for what it's worth I enjoyed Brooklyn's Finest quite a bit.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

A cliche, predictable, but not entirely despicable movie. It does have a charming cast and nice message for the little ones who this is targeted towards. I must say it was pretty entertaining, but not something I would probably want to watch again. It was so much like every other movie that has teenagers and school involved. It has nice pacing and a couple of cutely funny moments, but no moments of biting satire or edge to it. Seems like it might have been watered down a little bit in the translation from book to screen, but I haven't read the book to confirm this. Just speculation. Either way you put it though, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is good for a boring afternoon to occupy the kids or revel in some school nostalgia, but you'll likely forget about it soon after.

The Runaways

Not as good as it could have been, but in its superficial and entertaining way it succeeds, largely thanks to the cast and their performances. Dakota Fanning is the standout, giving a raw and mature performance unlike anything I've seen from her before. Kristen Stewart is solid, although this isn't anything outside her range and nothing she hasn't done before. Michael Shannon is very good too in an off the wall wacky performance too. The movie has pacing problems here and there ( especially at the end), but thanks to the music and atmosphere it overcomes it. It's an entertaining look at how The Runaways rose to fame, but it doesn't delve into the characters like a biopic. As long as you don't mind that, it's a good time.

The Losers

A relentlessly paced action movie with a good cast elevating the material to likable status among cheap action flicks. The movie looks good, has decent chemistry among the cast, has quite a few funny moments, and even manages to lampoon the cliches of action movies while simultaneously embracing them without failing. I enjoyed myself, despite the story being all over the place and not making much sense at times. It's a preposterous movie, but one that makes it a compliment rather than a complaint. In other words, its brainless, but when it looks and sounds this good, I'm willing to accept it. It might be shallow, but occasionally that works.

Repo Men

Starts out as a gleefully over the top science fiction movie with a cool premise and a few witty scenes spiced with some dark humor, but ends up being too serious and over indulgent by the end. Jude Law does a fine job in the action lead role and has decent chemistry with his co-stars, but the movie can't decide if it wants to be over the top funny or dead serious with a ton of gory visuals. I like to think I have a high tolerance for blood and gore (I got through The Human Centipede and other grotesque movies fine), but Repo Men actually had a few scenes where I was looking through my fingers it was so bad. There's a few cool action sequences, but the movie gets repetitive by the end and takes far too long to get to its conclusion because of all the running around and shooting. The ending was also sort of frustrating and manipulative. I sound like I hated this movie really, but I'm more just annoyed that it could have been better made with a little more care. It's not boring and has its moments, they are just outweighed by everything else I mentioned.

Chloe

Chloe is an undeniably enjoyable and evocative movie for the first 2/3 before it transforms into something I didn't see coming... and in this case the surprise in store throws everything off the deep end. The performances are pretty good, but the actors deserved a better ending to this movie. The screenplay is way too ridiculous by the end. It just feels like a cheap way for everything to be resolved without having to deal with the issues it presented. It really irritates me that the first 2/3 was so good because this movie was turning into a solidly enjoyable little thriller, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Foreign)

An enthralling thriller with fantastically unique and intriguing characters whom grow on you throughout the film. The main plot is your standard murder mystery that isn't anything special, but because the characters and actors are so good it sparks your interest more than it should thanks to your involvement with the them. It has plenty of graphic and intense violence/nudity that some won't be able to take, but for me that just made it all the more memorable. Some of the scenes will be burned in my memory forever. Some have complained about the length of this film considering the plot doesn't do much, but because I liked the characters so much the time flew by and I didn't even realize it had been 2 and a half hours. If you aren't involved with the characters, I can see it being a chore to sit through. Fortunately, I'm the former of those two and easily champion this as one of my favorites of the year. I can't wait to watch "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and continue to learn new things about Lisbeth. Her past is haunted, tragic, and painful, but yet I still feel like we barely scratched the surface here.

Cop Out

A mildly entertaining mess of a movie with a thinly drawn plot and a general lack of fresh ideas for the genre. It has an occasionally funny line or gag, but for every successful one there is probably 4-5 failures to cringe at. The direction from Kevin Smith isn't much beyond letting the scenes drag out longer than they need too. The cast looks like it is having a lot of fun making the movie, but it doesn't rub off on the viewer much when everything is so uninspired. The major villain is also laughably cartoonish and not at all menacing. After it was over I felt like I kind of enjoyed myself despite all the flaws. Looking back on it after a day though, I have no idea how I thought this.

Youth in Revolt

Youth In Revolt was a frustrating movie because it felt, much like the multiple personalities of its title character, that it was multiple movies and ideas being shoehorned into one chaotic jumble. The romance between the teenagers feels forced, unnatural, and at times unbelievable. The other half was the better half with Michael Cera doing all sorts of crazy things as Francois, which generates the only real laughter in the movie. The movie doesn't successfully go back and forth between the two and makes the movie feel uneven as a result. Portia Doubleday is the highlight, but she isn't enough to get me to recommend this. It's not horrible, but it's no riot either.

She's Out of My League

There's something to be said about a purely enjoyable romantic comedy that doesn't induce anger and frustration in me at this point. I've seen so many mediocre and forgettable ones that even a competently well made one can give me a smile. This film is just that. Nothing really outstanding, but it develops the characters nicely, I enjoyed the couple and rooted for them, and the film actually didn't feel forced. The comedy is a little raunchy, but nothing like an Apatow film (with the exception of a scene or two, but there's still much less of it than in those films). It has a sweet core to it that doesn't get pushed to the side. She's out of my League is definitely worth giving a shot if you enjoy a well made romantic comedy.

Green Zone

This movie bored me quite extensively, to the point where I almost fell asleep. It's so simple-minded and there's really nothing that engaged me like there was in similar movies (like Body of Lies, a movie I enjoyed quite a bit more). There's nothing wrong with the acting or direction, the movie just lacked surprises and the action was surprisingly little for all of the hoopla about it being directed by Paul Greengrass. I'm disappointed and can now see why the movie did fairly little business at the box office. Maybe I'm spoiled after watching The Hurt Locker earlier this year, but this movie felt out of date.

Hot Tub Time Machine

I don't know what to think of this movie. On one hand, I was entertained, but on the other hand I was turned off by the ridiculous amount of over the top moments and gags. This could have been a smart and deceptive comedy, but they took it the complete opposite way and made it dumb. If all you want to do is turn your brain off and watch stupid characters do stupid things, this is for you. It's just as smart as the title implies.