PAPER MAN Movie Review (LA Film Fest)

Paper Man was the opening movie at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, and all I can say is that it was a great choice.

Paper Man tells the story of Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) a failed author whose wife, Claire (Lisa Kudrow), a successful surgeon, rents a house in New Jersey in order to help him get over his writer's block. Along for the ride is Richard's imaginary friend, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds), who has been with him since 2nd grade.
Unfortunately, Richard can't seem to get anything written and the fact that his first novel was a bust doesn't help either. During one of his outings to town, he meets Abby (Emma Stone) a Long Island teen who feels as lonely as he does. A friendship between the two begins a la "Lost in Translation" which helps both of them deal with their lives and unresolved issues.

Paper Man very much has a typical independent feel to it, which I love. And while the basic storyline is not that original, the elements surrounding it definitely bring it to a new, original level. I thought the whole Captain Excellent element was brilliant and putting Ryan Reynolds in the role in a Superman-like costume and platinum hair just makes it that much more brilliant. Oh and did I mention Captain Excellent also has some sort of slogan, it's pretty fun.

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IN THE LOOP Review (LA Film Fest)

In the Loop is a political satire which follows a British government minister, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), who very clumsily makes the comment that "war is unforeseeable" during a TV interview. This leads to Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the communications chief, attempting to damage control this slip in order to further his pro-war agenda. Things end up getting more and more out of control in very comical ways, and the Brits end up in Washington where Foster meets Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy, and General Miller (James Gandolfini), who think he will help them in building a case against war. But turns out Foster is not the savior they were hoping for. In the midst of all this, Foster's new advisor, Toby Wright (Chris Addison) gets his way around mostly by sleeping with Clark's intern, Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky). This kind of comedy of errors has some pretty crazy twist and turns which will eventually lead everyone to the U.N. for its close.

I wanted to see In the Loop for a while and finally caught a screening at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. While I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, I think it's definitely a smart and very funny political movie.

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TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Review

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (Watch Trailer here) just rolled out this weekend and here is a low down on what to expect and not to expect.

First let's talk about what you should expect. This Transformers iteration has taken the special effects to a whole new level. I have to admit that I usually like Michael Bay movies because he is a master at making things look bigger than they really are. He really came through here again. The robot fights are just pure joy for anyone who enjoys to watch a good beat down on screen.

A lot of people out there complained that the special effects overwhelmed the movie. I have one thing to say to those people:

So the Frak What?

It's called TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN and the key word here is "TRANSFORMERS". I don't expect to have some oscar winning script or acting but I do expect high grade, CGI driven robot fight and boy, did Mr Bay deliver.

Second, let's talk about what not to expect. Do not expect an original story or even decent acting. Although I like Shia Labeouf, I couldn't really focus on his OK acting as I was distracted by the horrible acting from Megan Fox. Now, I am not trying to hate on Fox. She's doing her thing and getting a lot of exposure for it. That does not mean that I am supposed to give her a pass for mediocre acting. I actually liked her better in the first one. Maybe because she had fewer lines.

Overall, I had a blast watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It was wicked fun and really did a good job of making this as big as I expected it to be. A must watch.

WEATHER GIRL Review (LA Film Fest)

Weather Girl is one of my favorite movies from the LA Film Festival so far. It tells the story of Sylvia (Tricia O'Kelley), a Seattle morning show weather girl, who, after finding out her boyfriend (Mark Harmon) is cheating on her with his co-host (Kaitlin Olson), has an on-air freak and is subsequently fired. She then moves in with her brother, Walt (Ryan Devlin), who seems to be quite the opposite of Sylvia. Where she is organized and likes to have a plan, he just goes with the flow. While living with Walt, Sylvia has to also deal with Byron (Patrick J. Adams), Walt's best friend who lives across the hall. A friendship grows between the three of them (and more with Byron), as Sylvia tries to figure out what to do next. Turns out she committed career suicide at 35, and no one in television will hire her. But is that really such a bad thing?

I think the great thing about Weather Girl is that it was able to capture my attention from beginning to end by having very endearing, but real characters and a well-rounded story. Sylvia is flawed and kind of lost, and pretty messed up actually, but you can't help but root for her.
Walt is a fun brother to have, but he's not perfect, which makes him more real. And finally Byron... well, let's just say that women will definitely fall in love with him. He just has that special thing. And I have to give it up to them for casting Patrick J. Adams in the part. He is just perfect.

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HUMPDAY Review (LA Film Fest)

I recently got a chance to see Humpday, which is going to be playing at the 2009 LA Film Festival.

I had already mentioned Humpday a couple of times before. I posted pictures and the trailer and was pretty curious to find out more about it. Now that I have, I can tell you one thing for sure, Humpday, although very funny, is definitely not going to appeal to everybody simply because of its unconventional story. When I told one of my friends about it, he was like "and why would I want to see that?" but for those of you adventurous types out there, how about I tell you a little more about it?

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THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 Movie Review

Yesterday, I saw THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta. The movie revolves around a subway train taken hostage. John Travolta plays the hostage taker and Denzel Washington plays the subway supervisor who is negotiating with him.

Let me get a few items out of the way so we can focus this movie review on the point of the movie which was in essence to highlight the acting chops of two movie icons.

The story of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 is predictable. And when I say predictable, I mean predictable. However you think hostage movies typically go is how this movie went. It seems that the script took every single hostage movie cliches from the heroic train passenger to the worried wife of the unlikely hero and blended them all together into a very bland soup that is honestly not worth mentionning any further.

The directing is classic Tony Scott with the quick and edgy camera shots. I am a big fan of Tony Scott but I am actually getting tired of the style. Or maybe not so much tired as I am blaze about it. It is also possible that since the story was so weak, the camera effects did nothing but emphasize it even more.

Now let's talk about the main event: Denzel vs Travolta. I know that I came in thinking that we would see some sort of a draw because I really like both of these actors. However, I have to give it to Denzel in this movie.

He really made us care about his character and his line delivery was impeccable. Aside from the ridiculous actions the script makes him do (the end of the movie for one thing), Denzel Washington manages to brilliantly shine as a unlikely hero who goes out of his way to make things work.

John Travolta tried to do the same with his character but he couldn't hack it. As a bad guy, he only had one job: intimidate us while making us care for him in some way. Think about it, all great bad guys are always characters that are in the grey with mixed emotions and a lot of baggage. Travolta's character just came across as a bitter douche. So major fail here.

Overall, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 was alright. Not great enough for me to give a solid recommendation but not bad enough for me to give it a failing grade.

DEAR LEMON LIMA Review

Dear Lemon Lima is a movie in the "Narrative Competition" at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. It follows the story of Vanessa Lemor, a 13 year old girl living in Alaska who discovers her Yup'ik heritage while competing in her school's Snowstorm Survivor competition, along with her group of eccentric friends.

The movie stars with Vanessa (Savanah Wiltfong) being dumped by her boyfriend, Philip. To Vanessa it seems like the end of the world. With a wall in her room plastered of pictures of Philip, she decides to win him back. Unfortunately, things get complicated when Philip, having spent the summer in France, suddenly becomes popular. Vanessa on the other end is quite the outsider and pretty peculiar. But that won't stop her. Vanessa meets the people who will become her new team when she is sent to the weight room (or really what I would call the "reject room"). They include Samantha (Vanessa Marano), a pathological liar, Nothing (formally called Madeline), the heiress to a funeral parlor chain, and Hercules, a nice but awkward boy with very strict and overprotective parents. They name themselves the "FUBAR," which means "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition." Together they will fight against the odds to win it all.

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THE HURT LOCKER Movie Review

When I saw The Hurt Locker, all I knew about it was what I had seen in the trailer, but not much else. I have a habit of not reading too much about a movie before seeing it, so that it retains some type of surprise element. But what I did see in the trailer intrigued me enough that I wanted to see the movie.

The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, K-19) takes place during the summer of 2004 and follows the story of three members of a counterforce that specializes in disarming homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq.

The movie opens with Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) and their team leader trying to disarm a bomb. Through some complications Sanborn and Eldridge end up losing their team leader. The army assigns Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) to take over the team. And while James might be good at his job, his reckless behavior and his lack of concern for following military protocol create tension with his team. With only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, the men will have to learn to work and trust with each other if they're going to survive.

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THE HANGOVER Movie Review

Wow. I can't remember the last time I've been in a L.A. movie theater when an audience has erupted in such a thunderous applause after a movie. I haven't had a chance to check out other reviews yet, so I'm not sure what the "film snob" circuit is saying, but as a regular person I thought this movie was great. How great? As the credits rolled I was holding my head in my hands trying to process everything I just witnessed while tears streamed down my face and my stomach was in knots from both laughing and viewing some of the most repulsive things I've ever seen on film. In short, it was awesome.

I know what some of you might be thinking - a group of guys go to Vegas, get drunk and make some bad decisions, what's so unique about that? And you'd be right. This is a story line that has been done many times over, but even so, I promise this movie WILL surprise you. It might actually be the shock value that makes it so unexpectedly good. There is also the amazing cast to consider. I've been a long-time fan of the comedy genius of Zach Galifianakis and he totally makes the movie. I hope to see him in other projects soon. Also, Ed Helms (Andy from The Office) and Bradley Cooper (Alias) both do an amazing job of creating one of the most shocking, offensive, hilarious movies of the summer.

I don't want to go anymore into the plot because as I said before it's the shock value that makes this movie so great and I don't want to spoil anything. One last thing I will say is that if you have a weak stomach, and/or get easily offended this is not the movie for you. If, however, you are ready to be taking one of the most hilarious and bizarre rides of your life, go check it out.

AWAY WE GO Movie Review

I wanted to see Away We Go ever since I watched the trailer. Not that I was expecting it to blow me away, but I was expecting a nice, entertaining movie with an independent feel. What I got was so much more.

I recommended earlier this week that you see this movie in theaters based on the trailer, but now that I have seen it, I can confirm with certainty that this is a movie you shouldn't miss this week.

Away We Go follows a couple, Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph), who get pregnant and are faced with figuring out what to do next in their lives. The original plan was for Burt's parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) to help them, since after all they moved to be close to them. Turns out Burt's parents had other plans, like moving to Europe for two years right before the baby's due date. With that option out the window, Burt and Verona decide to leave and take a trip around America to try and figure out where they want to live and raise their kid. They decide to visit cities in which they have either friends or family, hoping to already create a friend/family base before moving there.

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