VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: This Is 40 (2012)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: This Is 40 (2012)

Clint: 3.2/5 stars, 7.2/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.5/5 stars Netflix, 6.3/10 IMDB.

Decent, but we thought it would be more of a comedy. It still was, but it was painful and depressing at the same time. This is a spin-off from the movie Knocked Up, with events occurring about a few years later.

This was actually better AND more funny than Knocked Up. But not by very much. A lot of the humor was the cringe-humor of watching somebody have a life that you do not want.  As a married couple who has no interest in having kids, we experienced a great deal of schadenfreude at watching Paul Rudd & Leslie Mann suffer the consequences of their breeding-based decisions.

P.S. I feel like Leslie Mann is getting hotter and hotter. And Carolyn says the same for Paul Rudd.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758830/combined

 

• Anna: I took myself to see this one on my 35th birthday. I did not relate to this movie and it kind of annoyed me. I definitely agree with your assessment of the movie and of Leslie Mann. Hawtie. Just another movie about how kids ruin you life. Definitely thought Knocked Up was funnier. Did you see Dan in Real Life? That was another one of those horrible painful depressing movies about people’s lives you don’t want.

   
• Clint Dan In Real Life would definitely be my least favorite of the 3 movies mentioned…!!

   
• 

  Anna Me too. That movie made me hate myself and others around me.

   
• Eve Yay schadenfreude over breeders suffering!

   
• 

  Clint: and how

   

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Trojan War (1997)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Trojan War (1997)

Clint: 5/5 stars, 8.4/10 (downgraded from previous 9/10).
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native rating:  5.2/10 IMDB. (Not available on Netflix.)

This is a great cult classic comedy that is not very well known or distributed. It’s hard to find this movie. I was happy to finally get dvd quality a few months ago.

I did have to downgrade my original 9/10 to 8.4/10, but it still held up to repeat viewing. It had been over 10 years since Carolyn & I initially watched this, so we had NO recollection whatsoever, except for the “kid needs to get a condom and fast” part.

This is a teen sex comedy caper. The type where all kinds of ridiculous things that would never go wrong in real life go wrong in the movie. Definitely an 80s/90s movie feel. Something in the same vein as The Stoned Age, Mystery Date, License To Drive, Adventures In Babysitting, or Superbad, although there is a romantic sub-plot that is compared more to Some Kind Of Wonderful. But it’s a definitely a comedy and NOT a romantic comedy. And one of my favorites.

The cast is great. The 3 main characters are played by Will Firedle (new-Batman in the Batman Beyond cartoon, Lion-O in the new Thundercats cartoon), an underdeveloped and less-hot-than-nowadays 18-year-old Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Marley Shelton (Pleasantville), who plays the girl who is way better looking than Love Hewitt in this movie, but who nowadays is pretty derpy looking and not as hot as JLH. But then we also have Danny Masterson (That 70’s Show), voice actor Jason Marsden, so-so actor Eric Balfour (24, Six Feet Under, weak-ass Gargoyle movie), Wendie Malick (Dream On, Just Shoot Me), Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man!), Danny Trejo (Machete), Kathy Griffin.

P.S. There’s 26 songs in the soundtrack!

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120376/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: DOCUMENTARIES: REVIEW: Superheroes (2011)

VIDEO: MOVIES: DOCUMENTARIES: REVIEW: Superheroes (2011)

Clint: 5/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 6.2/10 IMDB.

That was pretty awesome. (For a documentary.)

Pretty goddamn motherfucking awesome. I don’t usually mention stuff I watch during dinner…. This documentary probably took us about 10 meals.

Real life super heroes! I knew they were around, but I’d never had such an insightful glimpse into the phenomenon

Carolyn’s reluctance at believing this was real astounded me, and was a hilarious source of entertainment to me. She had to look it up on HBO and such. I had thought the RLSH (real life super hero) movement had been around long enough to at least have become common knowledge in the circles I run in. Like, the spousal circle, at the very least :D

And police Lieutenant Andra Brown: What a fucking bitch! She sits on her ass in an office and complains about the people actually doing something, all too often in situations where the cops can’t even bother to show up, as was demonstrated in the movie and experienced by myself and others.

Her responses may as well have been written by a robot. Was that really the best the police could do, when confronted with people more heroic than themselves? Throw a bunch of FUD* into the equation? Pathetic.

*(Fear, uncertainty, and doubt.)

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1792621/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Smashed (2012)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Smashed (2012)

Clint: 3.1/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3.6/5 stars, 7.6/10.
Native ratings: 3.6/5 stars Netflix, 6.8/10 IMDB.

It’s not REALLY a comedy.

It starts out making you think it’s going to be a comedy — and it indeed has funny parts. A lot during the first 25 minutes, and a few peppered out throughout the rest.

But unfortunately it takes turn toward the serious and depressing (and possibly preachy). It’s about alcoholism, and the struggles an alcoholic has to go through to:

1) Admit they have a problem
2) Admit they need help addressing the problem
3) Form a working support system
4) Survive their relationship

It is apparently hard for one person in a couple to admit to alcoholism and try to help themselves, all while the spouse isn’t participating. Now throw in the fact that the non-participatory spouse is Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad, and at least the Breaking Bad fanboy-ism kicks in to take the edge off the depressing seriousness of the plot. Plus the girl who wants to get sober is Ramona Flowers from <a target=”_target42764″ href=”https://clintjcl.wordpress.com/?p=5899″>Scott Pilgrim</a>. We also have Nick Offerman and Octavia Spencer.

This movie shows how marriages might not survive because spouses tend to need to grow in the same direction as each other. If one starts to grow in a different direction and the other does not follow — bad things can happen.
Carolyn felt it was a pretty powerful movie, once she realized what kind of movie it was…
Clint knew when selecting this movie that it has the potential to fall into this type of movie… But was hoping it wouldn’t. But it did. However, the funny parts still made it entertaining.
Plus, this was an excellent movie to drink at a greater-than-usual pace during, if only for spite. Our alcoholism isn’t nearly as bad as these guys, fortunately…

Ben W adds: “This was another movie where the trailer was cut in such a way to lead you to think it will be black comedy, which Young Adult also does. Not a serious drama with some funny bits to it. It took me a few days after seeing it to make peace with it. Although I knew going in what it was about, and at the time I was looking at a bunch of stuff about people getting sober. So, I guess I was more prepared for the journey. I can understand the cold-cocking it does to you if you go in blind.

Personally I like the The Lost Weekend for drinking to alcoholism.”

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2063781/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Seven Psychopaths (2012)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Clint: 3.6/5 stars, 7.4/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 7.3/10 IMDB.

Written & Directed by Martin McDonagh. I was wary of this because I did not like In Bruges and was disappointed. I’d say this movie has some similarities to In Bruges in terms of writing style… But it’s better.

Carolyn enjoyed how intertwined it all was; watching it all unfold to be revealed. She thought it was a nice ride.

I keep thinking lately about if I *really* liked a movie, or if I was just caught up in the enjoyment of watching a movie.

I mean, in the end, the whole experience felt a bit pointless, what with the final fate of the characters. Am I becoming the typical 40+ low-movie-rater? I hope not.

Nonetheless, the whole Vietnamese guy subplot was an utterly pointless addition just to make the number of psychopaths become 7. But then, the movie was about writing the movie, so it could be taken as a commentary on masturbatory screenplay writing.

But I guess it was all about the quirky style, the voyage not the destination… I DID like this. It was funny. It was entertaining — even if it deliberately slowed down during the 2nd half.

I mean, we have CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, WOODY HARRELSON, Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrel, Tom Waits… Yes. Of course there was some gold in this. Just not quite as much as I’d hoped.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1931533/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: CARTOONS: VIDEO GAMES: REVIEW: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

VIDEO: MOVIES: CARTOONS: VIDEO GAMES: REVIEW: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Carolyn: 4.6/5 stars, 8.6/10.
Native ratings: 4.2/5 stars Netflix, 7.9/10 IMDB.

I defer to Carolyn’s rating for this one. I kept falling asleep. I definitely still followed everything that happened in the movie, but it lost it’s potential for full effect on me. I could tell it was awesome, but I just wasn’t SURE it was awesome. I’m not even going to rate it because I don’t even know how I feel about it.

But hey! Carolyn loved it! A lot of people loved it! I’ll be watching this again someday, 7 years from now.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Bindlestiffs (2012) aka “Kevin Smith’s Bindlestiffs” but not really by Kevin Smith

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Bindlestiffs (2012) aka “Kevin Smith’s Bindlestiffs” but not really by Kevin Smith

Clint: 2.6/5 stars, 5.6/10.
Carolyn: 2.6/5 stars, 5.6/10.
Native ratings: 2.4/5 stars Netflix, 4.0/10 IMDB.
First off, this is not actually a Kevin Smith creation. Kevin Smith’s name is not even on the IMDB page. Yet this was billed to as as “Kevin Smith’s Bindlestiffs”. Apparently he ranted and raved about how good this movie is.  I had thought he was one of the producers, but no. The producers are mostly the actors. This is a film made by 3 high school students. It’s not an A movie. It’s not even a B movie. It’s a C movie in quality. For comparison… Clerks was a B movie. I only watch about one C movie a year.

But it still has its moments and value. Three virgins inspired by reading The Catcher In The Rye decide to have their own Holden Caulfield weekend. The weekend ends up very differently for all 3 of the characters. Some jokes are genuinely funny (like the scene where the the elderly homeless woman makes out with one of the characters in the middle of an extended vomiting session), but a lot of stuff falls flat.

This is more like a draft for a real movie later. With the right budget & focus groups (to weed out the jokes that just aren’t funny), these guys could make some seriously good movies later in their career.

But this one isn’t it.

Carolyn adds: “It was slightly entertaining, and slightly funny… It wasn’t particularly well-done, and it didn’t have much of a story to tell… I guess it tried to have a lesson learned, but it seemed to come up short… It was more like a slice of life.  It was definitely no Clerks, but maybe it was trying to go for the same feel as Clerks (as in “a day in the life..”), but came up short.”

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2091243/combined