Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

awesome

i'll admit i hadn't heard of scott pilgrim before this film, but it was awesome nonetheless. michael cera plays scott, a canadian twenty-something year old who's in an indie band and having girl troubles. he's in a relationship w/ a 17 year old asian girl, but he's secretly in love with a new mysterious dream girl. in order to date the new girl he must overcome her seven evil exes. the film plays out like a video game stylistically. it's awesome and fun overall. i loved it.

The Social Network

david fincher directs the interesting true story of facebook

mark zuckerberg created facebook and lied/cheated his way to the top in many ways... the story is played out rather well in this film. i don't understand why it got praised as one of the best films of all time though. it's interesting to be sure, but not as thrilling and dramatic as i was expecting. well written and acted, the film was quite good, just not quite as amazing as i was expecting.

Machete

robert rodriguez's latest spoof of grindhouse

does it feel like it's been done already? yes, because it has. this is just a follow up to death proof, a spoof of grindhouse filmmaking, not really a homage. danny trejo (who should never be a leading man unfortunately) stars as the titular character who's on a mission to kill anyone in his way. the film is fun, sexy and funny, but the over-the-top nature of it all gets old fast.

Get Him to the Greek

good buddy comedy with heart

get him to the greek is a hilarious comedy about jonah hill trying to get russell brand to the biggest concert of his waning career at the greek theater. through lots of sex, drugs and rock & roll the two become close, although brand nearly destroys hill's entire life. the film is hilarious in a lot of scenes, especially the music lyrics, and there's a fair amount of poignancy as well towards the end that doesn't kill the lulz.

Iron Man 2

lots of special effects, nothing groundbreaking

i liked the first one better.

The Switch

standard romantic comedy

i really like jennifer aniston and jason bateman, but this film is just a standard story about a platonic relationship that turns into romance. aniston wants to get pregnant, but can't seem to find the right man... she decides to get artificially inseminated, and somehow jason bateman replaces the sample with his own. some hilarity ensues, the end.

Inception

christopher nolan delivers again

is anyone really surprised that a film featuring leonardo dicaprio and joseph gordon levitt that's directed by christopher nolan is pure win? nolan is the master of psychological thrillers, ever since following and memento, it was clear that the genre was his. inception is no different, the film is beautifully shot and the special effects are superb... but the plot itself is pretty damn good too. there is a new breed of criminal in the future, ones who access your mind to steal and implant thoughts. leonardo dicaprio is cobb, and he's hired to such things... but he's having trouble distinguishing reality from unreality. the premise is awesome, maybe not quite as brilliant as many have claimed, but still impressive for a big budget film. definitely worth watching.

The Other Guys

dumb to be sure, but funny

will ferrell and marky mark star in this buddy cop film. their characters aren't original or anything, but wahlberg steals the show in one of his few hilarious roles. eva mendes plays ferrell's smoking hot wife for no reason, but she's incredible eye candy so i aint complaining! also the rock and samuel l. jackson have small roles at the beginning and are pretty damn funny. the film isn't anything groundbreaking, but funny and entertaining.

Hard Eight

good slight drama

hard eight is paul thomas anderson's first feature film and it's a good drama about a young man (john c reilley) who's down on his luck outside of meets up with sydney (philip baker hall) who teaches him how to make money at gambling. he becomes like a father figure to john, but he may have some ulterior motives for this. the film is kinda slight in nature, but well acted and paced. very good early film from reilley and PTA.

Mr. Nobody

excellent thinking film

jared leto stars as nemo, the world's oldest man in the world. somehow he has survived longer than any other 'natural' human in the world and is recounting his life to journalists because he is on the verge of death. the film is extremely stylistic and intriguing as we do not know what from nemo's life is real and what would have been had he made changes in key situations. he can see what his life would have been had he made different decisions, and it all blurs together. it's an amazing premise and excellent film that deserves multiple viewings.