Grown Ups

GROWN UPS (2010) - June 30, 2010
Jesus.  Almost absurdly boring, this was almost certainly Adam Sandler's worst film -- he's made sillier films, stupider films, and films that were even more painfully unfunny, but he's never made one that was quite this boring, or quite this dull.  Esentially just a series of vignettes revolving around a group of old friends getting together for the weekend, there was just nothing interesting about these characters or the way they interacted.  They certainly seemed to be having a good time, with a good chunk of the movie consisting of reaction shots of the various characters laughing at their own jokes -- but none of this merriment translates over to the audience.  It just doesn't work.  The characters never become people we particularly care about, so the whole thing winds up feeling like watching a home video with high production values -- it's just people I don't know or care about having a good time.  There came a point, I guess about an hour into the film, where it felt like things should be wrapping up.  But it just kept going, and going, and going (AND GOING) and it was interminable.  *

Knight and Day

KNIGHT AND DAY (2010) - June 26, 2010
Kind of light on plot and character but still good fun, this was an enjoyable film about a woman who finds herself mixed up with a secret agent on the run.  Tom Cruise gives a really charismatic, charming performance (he probably hasn't had a role this lighthearted in well over a decade) and has good chemistry with Cameron Diaz.  James Mangold directs the over-the-top action with a (mostly) sure hand, and while the whole thing doesn't particularly add up to much, it's a fun ride.  ***

Toy Story 3

TOY STORY 3 (2010) - June 22, 2010 (Second Viewing)
Yep.  Pixar!  ****

The Karate Kid (2010)

THE KARATE KID (2010) - June 18, 2010
Not so good.  A beat-for-beat remake of the original Karate Kid which really has no reason to exist -- it's essentially just a duller version of the original film.  The one aspect that should have been improved -- the fighting scenes -- are ruined by Harald Zwart's shoddy direction (he shoots pretty much every fight scene in agonizingly tight close ups, which kind of robs them of any real excitement).  This is a step down from the original in every regard; it just feels perfunctory.  Plus, it's bloated and way overlong at well over two hours.  I was pretty bored.  *1/2

Killers

KILLERS (2010) - June 16, 2010
Oh man.  Further proof that Robert Luketic is a complete hack who shouldn't be allowed within ten feet of a camera.  About a woman who realizes that her husband is actually an assassin, and an audience who realizes that they just wasted their time and money and should have just watched True Lies again instead.  The film starts out mediocre but sort of watchable, but as soon as the action starts kicking in, Luketic's deficiencies as a director become woefully apparent (this is a film that features the action movie trifecta -- car chases, fist-fights, and shootouts -- and somehow manages to make it all so dull and boring).  It doesn't help that Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl have almost no chemistry, and are both pretty bad in their roles -- Kutcher is never convincing as a expertly trained killer, and Heigl is just shrill.  Plus, the two spend much of the latter half of the movie bickering in the most grating way imaginable.  And the notion that pretty much every single person that the couple knows are all actually hired assassins stretches credibility to its very breaking point.  Man, this movie made me angry.  Oh, I should mention that seeing Tom Selleck back on the big screen in his full mustachioed glory was pretty sweet.  I have no other good things to say about this movie.  *

Toy Story 3

TOY STORY 3 (2010) - June 16, 2010
Well, I'm not entire sure if this tops Toy Story 2, but it's pretty darn close.  I'll watch it a couple more times, then I'll decide.  Seriously though, I don't know how Pixar manages to keep making such absurdly good films -- their track record remains spotless, even after 11 films.  This was a really fun, egaging film.  It maybe slows down a tad somewhere in the middle, but it recovers nicely with one of the best action climaxes that I've seen in a while.  It's seriously good.  Plus, the film manages to do a really good job of wrapping up the Toy Story... story... in a really satisfying way.  ****

Toy Story 2

TOY STORY 2 (1999) - June 14, 2010 (Fourth or Fifth Viewing)
Even better than the original.  It takes everything that made the first Toy Story so good, and improves it in pretty much every way.  The stakes are higher, the gags are funnier and it's just overall more enjoyable.  And that's saying a lot, considering how good the first one was.  ****

Toy Story

TOY STORY (1995) - June 14, 2010 (Fourth or Fifth Viewing)
A classic.  This was Pixar's first film, and it's pretty astonishing that they were able to come right out of the gate with such a quality feature.  It's not quite on the same level of some of Pixar's best stuff, but all the hallmarks of what makes Pixar so great are present here -- the memorable, perfectly-voiced characters, the top-shelf filmmaking, the amazing set-peices...  Pixar!  Good stuff.  ***1/2

The Karate Kid

THE KARATE KID - June 13, 2010
Though almost absurdly dated, this was an enjoyable enough film about a kid who learns life lessons while learning karate.  ***

The A-Team

THE A-TEAM (2010) - June 12, 2010
About a team of mercinaries who set out to prove their innocence after being framed for a crime, this was really silly and never quite as fun as it's trying to be, but nevertheless enjoyable enough.  It's definitely at its best when it was just fully embracing its silliness -- a scene involving a falling tank was a highlight.  The finale, on the other hand, was muddled and bland, and went on far too long.  **1/2

Shrek Forever After

SHREK FOREVER AFTER (2010) - June 12, 2010
Meh.  Another mediocre Shrek instalment.  I think it's safe to say that everything that made the original so unique and fun has been completely run into the ground at this point, so I hope they stay true to their word about this being the last Shrek film.  Yet again, the film falls back on tried-and-true characters and situations, but without the spark of the original (and the first sequel, to a lesser extent).  It feels like a cash-grab, and while the film was decently made, I just wasn't particularly entertained.  **

42nd Street

42ND STREET (1933) - June 10, 2010
This is the second musical I’ve watched for this blog, with the first one being All That Jazz. Boy, they could not be more different. Where Jazz was torpid, dull and pretentious, 42nd Street was fun, fast-paced and immensely memorable. It’s funny, because both films have a fairly similar plot and structure (a play being prepared, followed by an extended sequence of musical numbers). But 42nd Street just does it so much better.  One of the hallmarks of a good musical is that it leaves you humming the songs to yourself — I definitely have at least one of the songs stuck in my head pretty conclusively, so the film certainly succeeded on that count.  The film essentially breaks up into two parts: the first hour, with all the behind the scenes stuff, followed by the musical itself. The whole thing was well made and engaging, though it’s the last 20 minutes or so (which features some really visually dazzling musical sequences choreographed by the legendary Busby Berkeley) in which the film really comes alive.  Really, this is just a movie that puts a big smile on your face. It’s quite enjoyable throughout, and definitely one of the better musicals I’ve seen in a while.  ***1/2

Black Dynamite

BLACK DYNAMITE (2009) - June 8, 2010
A fun film about a badass lady's man who springs into action when his brother is killed.  Much like Grindhouse, the film is shot in a style meant to emulate exploitation cinema of the '70s (blaxploitation, in this case).  This probably works better than either of the films from Grindhouse; it's laugh-out-loud funny at times, and doesn't really overstay its welcome (though it does drag a bit in parts towards the end).  Much of the film's sucess is thanks to Michael Jai White's surprisingly hilarious performance as the titular Black Dynamite -- I doubt the film would have been nearly as effective with someone else in that part.  ***

Dragon Tiger Gate

DRAGON TIGER GATE (2006) - June 6, 2010
Hmmm...  About a couple of estranged brothers who were brought up at a school for kung-fu, and the stuff that happens.  Honestly, I'm having a hard time summing this movie up, as it was never particularly clear what it was about.  It was pretty muddled; in particular, I had no idea who the bad guy was, or what his deal was -- why did he want to kill the main characters?  What was at stake?  I really wasn't sure.  The movie kind of felt like it was originally much longer, and was cut down in a really sloppy way.  I'm not sure if that's actually the case, though I suspect it is; it was a bit of a mess.  Aside from that, it was decently directed by Wilson Yip, and featured some expectedly exciting action (though it was much more over-the-top and wirey than the previous Yip / Donnie Yen collaborations).  **

Splice

SPLICE (2010) - June 5, 2010
An interesting film by Vinceno Natali about a couple of scientists who create a strange creature featuring human DNA mixed in with several other animals.  The film sort of veers between sci-fi, drama, horror, and thriller, but somehow it all comes together in an effective whole.  Natali's direction is above average, as are the performances.  This wasn't a perfect film, but I enjoyed it (aside from some third-act shenanigans that I don't really buy -- mostly how readily Adrian Brody would do it with the creature). ***

Get Him to the Greek

GET HIM TO THE GREEK (2010) - June 4, 2010
An enjoyable if somewhat overlong film about a record company employee who is tasked with escorting a flamboyant rock star from London to the States.  Wackiness ensues.  Jonah Hill and Russel Brand are both quite funny and have definite chemistry, and though the movie is quite familiar all the way through, it's well made and fun.  ***

Synecdoche, New York

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (2008) - June 3, 2010
An strange film about a theatre director who begins to stage an increasingly elaborate play, a task that winds up taking up a good portion of his life.  There's something really odd and almost inscrutible about the dream-like world that writer and first-time director Charlie Kaufman creates, and it doesn't always exactly work.  But the film is definitely compelling in its own quirky way, and I think Kaufman is to be commended for trying something different (which does seem to be his M.O., though this is weird on a far more epic scale than his previous work).  Plus, there's the performances, which are uniformly great -- particularly Philip Seymour Hoffman, who gives what is probably one of his best performances in the central role.  ***

3-Iron

3-IRON (2004) - June 1, 2010
It’s a rare pleasure to go into a movie knowing nothing about what it is about, and then slowly letting the plot unfold. It’s an experience that you really don’t get to have all too often (the internet has made that nearly impossible), at least outside of a film festival. But it’s how I got to watch 3-Iron, so I wasn’t even aware that the film was a love story, and I was completely unaware of its central gimmick — that the two main characters never speak a word to one another (in fact, the man never speaks at all, and the woman has maybe three lines of dialogue). It’s an odd concept for a love story, but it works. Basically.  For the first twenty minutes or so, I kept thinking “oh, okay, now they’re going to start talking to each other… oh, okay, they were waiting to leave the house, now they’ll start talking.” Eventually it became fairly clear that the two characters were never going to speak, which is kind of neat. I mean, it feels a bit contrived at times, but it’s such a unique premise for a film that I was willing to cut it some slack. And it really does work; there’s definitely a palpable chemistry between the two characters, with brief looks and sideways glances many times saying more than words ever could. It is kind of odd that they absolutely never speak to each other, but you don’t think about it as much as you’d think you would.  Aside from that, director Ki-duk Kim shoots the film with an austere, minimalist style that suits the story perfectly. The acting is pretty great, with both actors admirably rising to the challenge of creating memorable characters without saying a word. It’s a movie that easily could have been disastrous, but all involved definitely rise to the challenge.  ***