QUICK HIT MOVIE REVIEWS: LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS & SKYLINE

ON DVD

Love and Other Drugs



Handsome and charming pharmaceutical rep Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) falls head over heels for radiant free spirit Maggie (Anne Hathaway), and together the two people who never thought they would fall in love discover that their intense chemistry is more powerful than any drug on the market. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Edward Zwick

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad

Release Date: Nov 24, 2010

Rated R for Strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language and some drug material

Runtime: 1 hr. 53 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

Love and Other Drugs is a madding type of film. The first act starts off strong and sharply written and well acted. The second act features a massive tonal shift, becoming dreary and overly serious while the last act become a paint by the numbers sugary sweet romantic comedy with each of the usual tropes being touched as they round for home. It’s so incredibly imbalanced across the board that you could almost make a case for different people liking different parts of the movie while hating as a whole. Part RomCom, part satire, part sex comedy, it’s the type of film that you couldn’t pin down if you tried. A real shame as there’s some strong material hidden in there and it’s mostly wasted, along with strong turns from it’s mostly naked leads.

C-


Skyline



A series of blindingly bright lights appear all over Los Angeles, mesmerizing the citizens of the city while luring them to an uncertain fate in this sci-fi thriller from sibling filmmakers Greg and Colin Strause. As speculation regarding the origin of the mysterious lights runs rampant, a Los Angeles entrepreneur (Donald Faison), his best friend, Jarrod (Eric Balfour), and Jarrod's frightened girlfriend (Scottie Thompson) struggle to resist temptation as they seek out the source of the luminous threat. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Colin Strause, Greg Strause

Cast: Eric Balfour, Brittany Daniel, Neil Hopkins, David Zayas, Donald Faison

Release Date: Nov 12, 2010

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some language and brief sexual content

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Pretty much anything would be an improvement over the Strause Brother first film, Alien vs Predator Requiem, and I supposed Skyline counts as something. Visually impressive but impressively inert and flaccid, Skyline gives you nothing outside of a few nice FXs. The plot and characters are both incredibly stupid and uninteresting. The cast looks visibly embarrassed, some looking as if they just want to be killed off as soon as possible just so they can cash their check and forget they ever did this film. The plot freely borrowing from other alien invasion films to give us the most generic of plots. The Strause Brothers are more concerned with showing off their cool alien designs and want to leave you marveling at the effects, hoping you’d be so mesmerized you wouldn’t notice your brain and wallet being sucked dry.

D-

Movie Review: 2012

Monday, November 15, 2009
Movie Reviews: 2012
IN THEATERS

 

2012

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt

Director: Roland Emmerich

Opened November 13, 2009..

Runtime: 2 hr. 38 min.

Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language

Genres: Sci-Fi Disaster Film, Science Fiction

Review:

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was Michael Bay at his most excessive and bombastic; the film was an orgy of everything ever associated with the much maligned director. Equally, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is a new high point for this apocalyptic auteur. By high point I mean its Emmerich unleashed and unchecked, destruction occurs on such a grand scale that it’s almost comical. It feels like watching an old Tex Avery cartoon, so much so that if a massive anvil were to fall on a major city of monument you’d hardly notice or care. Visually, it’s a technical marvel. A virtual highlight reel of what the best CGI in the business can do with nearly unlimited funds and imagination. The film’s massive set pieces are great fun and deliver the trill ride promised. Then there the story, much like his previous film, Emmerich populates this with a bevy of clichéd characters that always act and react the way you’d expect. John Cusack is pretty much just asked to scream a lot of painfully atrocious dialogue. Cusack is a fine actor but here there very little he can do to elevate a script that sounds like it was written on a Mad Libs book. Equally mired is Chiwetel Ejiofor who has the task of playing the world’s worse scientist. Everything he does and says are wrong but people continue to listen to him because he’s got a conscience unlike Oliver Platt’s stereotypical government chief. Amanda Peet isn’t given anything to do other than stand run and look worried from time to time. Thandie Newton, Danny Glover and Woody Harrelson are collecting a paycheck here and don’t really add much to the proceedings. Harrelson even phones in a character which should have been a lot of fun. It’s all par for the course and should be expected since it’s Emmerich we’re talking about. While some of this films failings are expected one major one wasn’t, the films massive run time that’ll have you wishing the world would just end already! I’ve always thought of directors like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich like candy bars, they give you a nice little rush but too much could make you sick. Excepting any depth or substance is foolish because like the candy bars they have no problem telling you what they are ahead of time.

C

Movie Reviews: YEAR ONE

Sunday, June 21, 2009
Movie Reviews: YEAR ONE
IN THEATERS

YEAR ONE

When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers (Black and Cera) are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world.

Cast: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Vinnie Jones, Hank Azaria, Juno Temple, Olivia Wilde

Director: Harold Ramis

Opened June 19, 2009

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, crude and sexual content and comic violence

Genres: Prehistoric Fantasy, Comedy

Review:


Year One is an utterly disappointing hodgepodge of lowest common denominator humor which relies on Jack Blacks buffoonery way too much for its own good. The lack of ineptitude in handling what is an intriguing if somewhat familiar concept, Monty Python’s classic Life of Brian is far better, is surprising because of the pedigree of the people behind the camera and the script. Harold Ramis sloppy direction and even sloppier script, which he co wrote, makes this film a chore to trudge through as it lacks anything consistently funny. We are given fart, pee and shit jokes which might amuse some kids under 15 but not really anyone else. Jack Black is front and center here and his tired act is grating through most of the film as we watch him act like an overfed kid one a sugar high through out. The supporting cast is much stronger but sadly the filmmakers don’t give them too much screen time. Michael Cera does the best he can with the weak script and funnier than his counter part mainly because he understands the concepts of comic timing and subtlety. David Cross is good fun as Cain and his scene with Paul Rudd, as Abel, is an early highlight. The reliable Hank Azaria is fairly impressive as Abraham even if he’s only given a bad running joke to work with. The remaining supporting cast is mostly forgettable and they mostly just wander through their scenes aimlessly much like the plot. Story wise there isn’t much rhyme or reason to the proceeding and sometimes things just happen and abruptly end with no resolution. Year One might give you a few giggles here and there but never more than that. It’s a shame because handled correctly it could have been a fun ride through prehistory like the 80’s Caveman or the aforementioned Life of Brian, as it is you’d be best served renting either of those film if your looking for a laugh.

C-