Ramblings of an Anonymous Coward

Flicks Through February

it's been quite some time since i've done any movie reviews. last time was on 05 january and since then i have seen only 15 movies. so without further ado, and in order of viewing...

• Ladykillers: with tom hanks, i was expecting a bit more. it was cute for sure, but it simply did not meet expectations. 2 of 5.
  
  
• Employee of the Month: heh. haven't we all felt/seen something similar to this. this was a cross between the great movie office space and falling down. 3 of 5.
  
  
• The Village: finally got to see what all the chatter was about. people seemed to like or totally dislike this movie. it was good enough that i didn't hate the movie, but it wasn't exactly great. m. night shamalan really needs to try a different movie recipe though. 3 of 5.
  
  
• Shadow of Fear: mildly interesting ideas, but simply not a good movie. this is definitely filed under "don't bother". being nice, i'll give it 1 of 5.
  
  
• Cellular: cool premise, great execution, a few laughs on the way, and filmed locally in so.cal. i was expecting a so-so movie and was pleasantly surprised. definitely worth a rental. 4 of 5.
  
  
• Gypsy 83: sara rue is off for a night of a 1,000 stevies (referring to stevie nicks) and is quite the looker in the goth-ish get-up. i give the movie extra points for using a classic smokey and the bandit trans-am and for the music. a friend in college had a cousin that was a dead-ringer for stevie, but i digress. i'll give it 3 of 5, but warn you it isn't the sort of movie for anyone.
  
  Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastles: they could have simply called this one "dude, where's my burger" or some such. this is a classic stoner movie that is great to watch when you need just a little a.v. input to entertain yourself. definitely worth seeing this flick if you haven't already. i'm giving the bonus points for the great use of doogie howser -- 4.5 of 5.
  
  
• Without a Paddle: it was promising, but the title should have been "without a good sense of direction". it had it's funny moments, but unlike harold and kumar it tried to have a moral or something. sorry... 2 of 5 and i'm being nice.
  
  
• Little Black Book: i was a little concerned getting this movie to watch, but it ended up being fairly delightful. and no, not just because the male lead is a pro hockey scout. :) a chick flick worth watching -- 3 of 5.
  
  
• The Grudge: another one of those movies i wondered what the fuss was about. i won't embarass who i watched it with, but they were seriously creeped out and i'm still chuckling over that fact. this flick wasn't as bad as some had said, but it certainly won't be a classic unlike buffy the vampire slayer. 3 of 5 since it scared at least one person.
  
  
• This Girl's Life: this movie was supposed to be about an internet porn star which caught my eye. i finally snagged it when it said it had a great performance by james woods. that it did. he did a fabulous job playing the part of moon's parkinson's inflicted father. it was a shame his role was such a small part of the movie. i give it 2 of 5 simply because of wood's performance, otherwise it gets 1 (because of nudity).
  
  
• Eulogy: dysfunctional family has to gather at the funeral for their father. pretty much the standard schtick for this sort of movie. i hoped for some originality, but there was little to be found. if you've seen all the good stuff, give it a watch. a solid 2 of 5.
  
  
• Friday Night Lights: i finally got to see this. blockbuster was out for 4 weeks. it was worth the wait. it wasn't as serious as "remember the titans", but certainly had a serious side. although, it was tough when one of the main characters name was "boobie" and he'd say stuff like "ya'll wanna win? put boobie in" and referred to himself in the third person a lot. some good action and will likely rangle up some memories of high school sports if you played. no doubt, this title is worth a rental and gets 4 of 5.
  
  
• Saw: i knew nothing about this movie before i saw it (pun not intended). i really liked a lot of things about this movie -- it had an interesting and fairly unique plot where a serial killer provided his victims some rather personal dilemas from with to work with. i personally didn't like the ending as it felt like they discovered they needed to end the movie and didn't have a plan. regardless, i'd watch it again. 4 of 5.
  
  
• The Cookout: i guess i kinda sort got what i was expecting. it was the stereo-typical black guy makes good (via pro basketball) and moves to an affluent white neighborhood. then invites the family for a cookout. mayhem insues. two parts still make me chuckle though -- one is when farah fawcett's character tells her husband that "negros" have moved in next door. he moves into the frame from his winged-back chair an exclaims "oh, no... black people" or something like that. her husband was the actor danny glover. heh! then we had the family member that was an attorney (that has failed the bar 14 times) and twists everything to show how "the man" is keeping him and his people down. he pointed out to hockey being a bunch of white guys that smacks a black puck around and gave it the ole' umm hmmmm the puck isn't white, i wonder why. the sports agent (who was white) suggested that it isn't white because it would be hard to see on the ice to which he replied "you would think that". lol. i give this movie 3 of 5.

ok, that's all for now. i still want to watch "the notebook", but have to find a good time to do so.

Posted by ac at February 17, 2005 07:13 PM