Tuesday, January 26, 2010

movies! movies! movies!

Once again, I have a huge backlog of movies to review so you'll have to settle for snippet reviews and number scores. Not that anyone actually relies on this blog for their movie info or anything. I just like to flatter myself.

9
Excellent film. Felt a little short. Left me wanting more.
9.25/10

A Perfect Getaway
Solid movie, held my interest throughout. Nice twist, albeit somewhat predictable for seasoned movie-watchers.
7.25/10

District 9
Really unique, not what I expected at all. The way it was filmed can get a little irritating at times, but overall really well done.
8/10


Extract
Mike Judge comedy starring Jason Bateman? Sounds promising. Falls pretty flat. Below average.
5.5/10


Gamer
A future world that is chock-full of plot holes. People control other people as video game characters. Not the greatest entry for Michael C. Hall (aka Dexter Morgan) but not terrible.
Still, definitely below average.
5.75/10


Jennifer's Body
Crappy teen horror. I don't know why I watched it.
3/10


Law Abiding Citizen
What develops as a potentially cool plot is explained away in the tritest of manners. Screenwriter fail, big time.
4/10


Saw VI
The Saw series has become so incredibly predictable. More of the same. The sixth was supposed to be the LAST Saw, but it seems to set itself up for ANOTHER sequel. Please, no more.
3.75/10


Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball
I don't think this one ever made it to theaters in the U.S. Actually, not as "direct-to-video" as I expected from it. Decent shoot 'em up film.
7/10


Staten Island
A quirky and oddly amusing film. Seems a little green, but gets points for originality.
8/10


The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais is the only person in the world who is biologically capable of lying. Suspend your disbelief. I really don't like Jennifer Garner.
5.5/10


Surrogates
An OK movie but ultimately very forgettable. Seriously, I remember almost nothing about this film.
6/10


The Hurt Locker
Actually I was quite impressed with this movie. It begs the question, "Why the hell are we still over there?"
9/10


The Hangover
Hey, it was a very funny movie. That's all I can say.
8.75/10


Whiteout
Boring Antarctica thriller. Makes you cold just watching it.
6/10

Sunday, January 3, 2010

(500) Days of Summer

Perhaps it was the story. Perhaps it was the presence of the beautiful and talented Zooey Deschanel. Maybe it was the fact that the soundtrack was well-done while avoiding being a cliched "indie-movie soundtrack." Or maybe it was the fact that as a whole, the movie managed to somehow avoid falling into the "indie-movie" cliche while still being original and well-done. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.


9/10