Before I begin my review, I’d like to once again admit that I have a Tom Cruise bias. I love the guy. So I certainly went into the theater with my fingers crossed. Had I not liked the movie, I probably would have avoided writing my review altogether, as it could hurt my chances of ever having coffee with Tom Cruise. It is possible that he’ll invite me for coffee . . . isn’t it? Well, thank goodness the film was great. It was an action packed romantic comedy, that had me laughing from start to finish. I confess that I’m not a huge Cameron Diaz fan, but I now officially like her. What makes this film so enjoyable, is the guessing game about whether Tom Cruise is a good guy or a bad guy. He’s certainly very skilled at playing both sides, so we’re not sure who to root for. I imagine that if I was caught in the same situation as Cameron Diaz’s character, I’d probably just run off with Tom Cruise and hope for the best. After all, someone that good looking with such a nice smile can’t possibly be a bad guy – right? I advise all of my readers to go see this movie with a date. It crosses all genres, which means it’s great for everyone. It’s rare to find a movie worth watching these days, so find the time to see it on the big screen.
Category: Film
‘Sex and The City 2’ Movie Review – I’m Luke Warm
I really wanted to like this movie. I promise I did. I was an avid fan of the series, and I threw a girls night out party for the first film. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. It was merely okay. The main problem involves the blaring lack of story. The first act stays true to the tone of the series, with Carrie feeling that her marriage to Big has become stale, along with Charlotte experiencing the overwhelming demands of motherhood. Then comes act two. The girls go to Abu Dhabi, and the film creatively ends about 20 minutes into the excursion. Abu Dhabi becomes the main character, and the girls become supporting players. So much of the second act surrounds the surprise with Abu Dhabi’s grandor. Wow! Look at this bathroom! Wow! Look at this shower! Wow! Everything is free! When you find that all the dialogue in a film is about objects, I think the ship is sinking. Aiden shows up briefly, and his appearance reminded me of another problem in the film – where are the men?! Mr. Big is barely in it, and all the other supporting actors that we’ve grown to love are unused. I kept praying that Smith Jared would swoop in to win back Samantha, but to no avail. And I hate to admit this (gosh, I really hate it), but Samantha on the prowl came off as pathetic. I don’t think it’s because she’s too old to be on the prowl, or that she isn’t as hot as she used to be (she’s still very hot), it’s that it simply didn’t work. Perhaps it’s because I just want her to be with Smith, or it’s that it felt like a backwards leap – I can’t quite put my finger on why it didn’t work. All I can say is . . . it didn’t work. When the third act came around I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Mr. Big will be back and boy do I love me some Mr. Big. Well, I am sad to even call it a third act because it was probably under five minutes. They quickly tied the “story” up with a big pink bow and ended the film. I sat through 2 hours of Abu Dhabi for five minutes with Mr. Big?! I’m pained to hit the publish button on this post. I so badly wanted this film to be good, and the critics to be wrong. So that I can sleep well tonight, I will tell you that the film is still worth seeing. I love these women, I love these characters, and I love the fashion. Go pay tribute!
Movie Review: ‘Letters to Juliet’
This is one of the best romantic comedies that I’ve ever seen. The trailer is absolutely abominable, so it only makes sense that when I tell my friends how great this movie is, they give me a look of horror. The film follows Amanda Seyfried who yearns to be a writer. She travels to Italy with her fiance, who is buying products for his newly opened Italian restaurant. While in Italy, Seyfried visits the house once inhabited by Shakespeare’s Juliet, where random people write letters to Juliet asking for advice about love. Seyfried finds a letter lodged in the wall that is over 50 years old, and she decides to respond. Vanessa Redgrave receives the fifty year old answer, and is inspired to return to Italy to find her long lost love. She brings her grandson along who is furious with this ridiculous idea. One thing leads to another and Seyfriend decides to join them in their journey of locating Redgrave’s love. It might sound cheesy, but I promise it works. Go see it!
Movie Review: Iron Man 2
The great Robert McKee says that you can tell within the first ten minutes of a film whether you will like it overall. That was certainly the case with Iron Man 2. Before you read further, please be aware that you don’t have to worry about me revealing plot details, because there simply isn’t a plot. Here’s the “story” in a nutshell: Robert Downey Jr. is an ego-maniac that women want to sleep with, and a certain disturbing looking individual hopes to kill. Why? Who knows. Perhaps you should go see the movie and alert me if I missed something. I also finally understand why there were so many rumors about a Gwyneth Paltrow/Scarlett Johansson feud. If I were Gwyneth, I would be infuriated by Johansson’s character. There is absolutely no reason for her existence, other than to be a hot chick that draws men to the theater. In fact, for mostly all of the film, she stands next to Gwyneth Paltrow and caters to Tony Stark, which pretty much invalidates the purpose of Paltrow’s character. I really did hope this film would be good. I loved the original, and was very excited for the follow-up. But as my brother pointed out, sequels that are released so close to the original film, are usually terrible. They are too rushed to be of high quality. I would still encourage you to see the film though – Robert Downey Jr. sure is yummy to look at.
Movie Review: Date Night
I loved this movie. Tina Fey and Steve Carell play Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple on a date night gone awry. The trouble begins when the Fosters pretend to be the Tripplehorns in order to secure a dinner reservation. Unfortunately, someone wants to kill the Tripplehorns, which doesn’t work out well for the Fosters. Hilarity ensues when the Fosters fight for their life to prove their not the Tripplehorns. Got that? Ironically, this film is actually perfect for a date night. Watch the trailer below.
Movie Review: ‘The Bounty Hunter’
This film simply didn’t work. They put two very beautiful people together, and created a thin storyline to keep them together for the entire film. Jennifer Aniston plays a journalist that skips bail to track down a story, and Gerard Butler plays the cop turned bounty hunter, tracking down his ex-wife. The underlying plot surrounds the story that she’s tracking down. I didn’t care too much about that story, and my guess is neither will movie goers, as it’s pretty sloppy. I would still recommend going to see it though, because those two sure are beautiful on the big screen.
The Best News of the Day: Roger Ebert Launches New Movie Review Show
Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz are producing a new movie review show, currently titled, ‘Roger Ebert presents At the Movies.’ The details are not yet revealed, though I hear rumors that he might make appearances here and there. I love the idea that Roger Ebert, the movie guru, realizes that people still want to see this type of format, despite the recent cancellation of ‘At the Movies.’ We will also see a return of the thumbs, which makes me very happy.
Movie Review: ‘Waking Sleeping Beauty’
‘Waking Sleeping Beauty’ follows the resurrection of Disney Animation Studios between 1984 and 1994. Many believed that Disney animation was kaput after a string of failures, and ‘The Little Mermaid’ brought it back from the dead. I thought the film was both enlightening and entertaining. It was jam packed with information in a short period of time though, so I would recommend going to see it when you are fully awake. My only complaint is that I thought it was heavily critical of Jeffrey Katzenberg. They portrayed him as a spotlight stealing, unappreciative guy. I don’t think it was really acknowledged that a large part of Disney’s success during this time was attributed to Katzenberg. In fact, he left Disney right after ‘The Lion King,’ which was Disney’s last major Box Office success. See the trailer below, and then make time to go see this documentary.