Tina Fey decides she wants more than her successful career, so she hires a rough-around-the-edges surrogate (Amy Poehler). Fey displays her full comic appeal, while Poehler is just broad. Even though the script has Fey’s sardonic voice, she didn’t write it. The supporting cast adds laughs (especially Signourney Weaver and Dax Shepard) to this pleasant comedy.
This starts out as a typical heist flick, but continues after the robbery to settle the score. Jason Statham heads the cast in this depiction of a true story in 70s London: a group of small-time thugs is maneuvered into the gig, so the Royal Family can save face. It moves steadily with solid pacing and performances. While it’s in no way original or snazzy, it’s well-crafted.
This Austrian import won the Oscar for best foreign film, but if this is the best the world had to offer last year, it was a mediocre crop. The plot revolves around the Nazi effort to make fake money, as seen through the eyes of one of Europe’s best criminals (and concentration camp prisoner). While there are some harrowing moments, the film never packs an emotional punch.
Jason Segel writes himself in the starring role as a musician whose sexy girlfriend leaves him. He travels to Hawaii to forget about her, but there she is with her new rockstar beau. While it’s not brilliant or hilarious, there’s plenty of enjoyable humor to entertain. Segal creates a charming comic hero and the supporting cast is peppered with fun folks.
The summer’s first screen adaptation of a Marvel Comics stars Robert Downey Jr. as an arms dealer who creates the ultimate weapon: a superpower human suit. The majority of the movie follows the process and it never lacks energy. The final conflict is the typical video-game staging. Even though the cast is strong and the writing spunky, it needs to more action to make it exciting. Guess that’s what the sequel is for. NOTE: Stay thru the credits for a surprise cameo.
A delightful as the hype. It’s a zany look at the effects of pregnancy on a spunky teenager, her family and boyfriend. The dialogue is funky and the characters fun (especially leads Ellen Page & Michael Cera).
George Clooney mugs a lot as he directs this lighthearted look at the early days of pro football (mid-twenties). It’s not entirely his fault: the script simply isn’t that clever or amusing. John Krasinski does OK, but Renee Zellweger is miscast as the sassy dame. Clooney, the director, did his best to add energy, but it’s a slow-moving and unexciting dud.
Since Chris Cooper has a mistress, plans to poison his wife (Patricia Clarkson). That’s only the beginning of the plot’s twists, but it develops with such tedious pace that the film’s 90-minute running time feels like 3 hours. The performances are decent and the late ‘40s art direction is attractive, but it’s not worth suffering through the suffering characters.
This trifle follows the adventures of a dowdy governess (Frances McDormand), who ends up working for a flighty beauty (Amy Adams playing the same character she did in “Enchanted”). Their crazy day involves sweet romantic entanglements and minor mayhem wrapped up in a predictable plot. The production design is gorgeous, but it’s a light on solid comic appeal. Ideal entertainment for women of a certain age.
The pillage of Europe by Hitler’s army didn’t stop with the destruction of buildings. He took thousands of art masterpieces from France, Italy, Poland and other occupied countries. This documentary drags at times, but it tells the intriguing story of this astounding outrage and the effects that last to this day.
Martin Scorsese captures the Rolling Stones in concert and throws in a few vintage interview clips to break it up. Frankly, we need the breaks, because the edit is so frantic and hard to follow on the curved Imax screen. Overall, the Stones kick ass and have great fun doing it. This film captures it with energy and great sound. NOTE: They got a new print, so no more scratches.
The animated 60s Japanese TV show is brought to the big screen by the Wachowski Brothers (the “Matrix” trilogy). The look is cool: hyperreality and super-saturated colors (think “Tron” on steroids). They’ve created some masterful sequences and dazzling visuals, but the lengthy lapses into dialogue slam the brakes on.
The President of the US is assassinated in Spain and we’re witnesses. Actually, we see it several times from varying viewpoints. Starts out interesting, but unfolds with minimal tension or thrills. Even the extended car chase is ho hum. Not a bad movie, just not very good.