Catfish

very absorbing documentary

on the surface catfish seems like a very slight story of an internet romance, but while watching this documentary unfold you get sucked in and it turns into more of a mystery/thriller than anything else. nev is a photographer whose pictures strike the fancy of an 8 year old Michigan artist who starts to paint many of them. the two form an online friendship and her family befriends nev. eventually nev forms a relationship with abby's older sister also online and on the phone. as the movie plays you realize that something isn't quite right about the whole situation. i went into this film knowing almost nothing, and i think that's why i enjoyed it so much. excellent film about facebook relationships, internet life and love, and much more.

The Tale of Despereaux

great animation, but very weak plot

so despereaux is a mouse who's not afraid of stuff, he's brave and curious... so he ends up reading stories of knights and honor and saving princesses... he ends up going on an adventure with a rat and they try to save the kingdom because the king is so grief stricken he outlaws soup. pretty lame, and not much happens honestly. the best part of the film is the great animation style and design.

The Town

ben affleck showcases his talents

the town is an excellent crime drama/thriller written by, directed by, and starring ben affleck. he plays doug, an amazing bankrobber in Charleston Massachusetts (the town). along with his gang of experts they pull off jobs like clockwork. doug ends up falling for a hostage (rebecca hall) he takes and they form a relationship. all the while the FBI is on their case and trying to use any resources they can to catch them. the film is very well made, and it's not some silly CSI style crime drama. this film is intense and realistic in almost every way. the romance and stuff is predictable, and the narrative shifts from affleck to jon hamm (FBI leader), and it's hard to tell who we should root for. imagine a better version of heat, that's more realistic. that's the town.

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.

The Crazies (2010)

totally different from the original, but still good

the crazies remake is pretty damn good for a horror remake, and i really liked the realism and intensity, even though they made it more of a straight up thriller/horror film. the crazies were easy to identify, and the scares took the main stage, but it was really well executed so i like it. i also liked that there weren't any really big name actors or too many cliches. good job.

The Crazies (1973)

pretty good thriller from george romero

although george a. romero doesn't stray too far from the zombie genre, he does tend to do a good job no matter what. the crazies isn't a zombie film, but rather a story about a virus outbreak that turns people insane and a small town that gets infected. the military swoops in and keeps the people in the dark while rounding them up and killing many of them. a good theme in this film is, 'who is really crazy?' and even though the special effects are dated and not impressive, it's still a good story and decent film. we'll see how the remake turned out.

Operation Endgame

great cast, horrible script and execution

man this looked like a winner. rob corddry, zach galifinakas, bob odenkirk, and more, problem is that the film has more drama/action than comedy, and the script is so slight and almost nothing really happens. a bunch of funny people got together and threw this film together with almost no real ideas at all. it's based on a government secret agency that is operating behind the scenes and the leader gets killed or something and then operation endgame is engaged. now the guys need to kill eachother and end the operation before the world ends or something. it's lame. corddry is funny as usual though.

Cop Out

kevin smith continues to prove he's a worthless hack

yes i said it, kevin smith is a one trick pony, and his trick wasn't even that great. this movie blows. he can't direct an action sequence to save his life, and the film isn't very funny. even with bruce willis (one of my alltime favorites) this film can't be saved. tracy morgan is meh as usual, and the story is unoriginal to say the least. they're 2 brooklyn cops, one black and one white. willis needs to recover his stolen baseball card to pay for his daughter's wedding, meanwhile morgan believes his wife is cheating on him and there is a mexican gang trying to recover a stolen mercedes benz. it's not fun, funny, action packed, or at all enjoyable.