Gone Baby Gone - This movie was not what I expected at all. I thought this was the Beiber biopic what I got instead was an Affleck joint with a heap of Ed Harris and a dollop of Morgan Freeman. In this movie, an Affleck and his girlfriend get hired to augment the police investigation of a missing girl (the eponymous ‘Baby’), and after a series of twists and turns find that the case of the missing youth is a lot more complicated than once thought. The mystery elements play out well, and the Affleck, which happens to be Casey Affleck, is pretty convincing as a tough guy with a weenie physique. The final twist at the end really gets you thinking, which I thought was a pretty powerful note to end on.
Chicago - I’ve never really learned how to follow story through song, so when it comes to musicals, I’m kind of a dummy as far as plot goes. Luckily, I watched this movie with my gal pal (like I’d ever watch this by myself {fart noise}) and she was able to clue me in on what was happening. For all of you out there who are in the same boat as me, here’s a little primer on the story. Two divas, Diva-lite and Diva-supreme, end up in the hoosegow for murderin. Big Momma Diva sets each of them up with a high priced attorney and he spins the facts to get them in the public eye as...aw hell, who cares. Now I understand why I have such a hard time following the story: I just plumb don’t give a hoot. Was the music good at least? I don’t know, the gal pal seems to like it. I really don’t think this movie was geared for the likes of me, which is probably why Renee Zelwegger landed the lead role.
Monsters - Here we’ve got a look at what the world might be like if aliens landed just south of the Mexican border. The aliens are giant megabeasts who can really mess you up man and only come out during certain times of the year. To be honest, I’m not too knowledgable on the ecology of the monsters and at one point they were shown as little pockets of light growing in tree trunks. I can’t remember if they delved into it that much, but I guess it’s kind of irrelevant because the movie devotes about 30 seconds of screen time to showing the monsters. I have no problem with this tactic, as I feel like when done correctly it really ratchets up the tension, something that them lousy Hollywood fat cats seemed to have forgotten since the CGI boom. As far as the movie itself, well, I really wanted to like it and almost convinced myself that I did. Looking back though, I don’t think I’d watch it again. The tale of two star-crossed non-lovers desperately trying to find their way back to America just didn’t do it for me.
Moon - I know you’re up there the moon, mocking me with your big bright face, secretly conspiring against the earth. The jig is nearly up, I’m onto you and your sinister plans, like this one a movie called Moon, as in M-O-O-N spells moon. You think you can pipe down some inspiration for a wonderful movie into the mind of first time director Duncan Jones and have him harvest a stellar performance from the immensely talented and always a pleasure to watch Sam Rockwell, to entertain me and make me think that the moon is a safe place to live, and not just that, but robots of the future won’t be murderous killbots? Think again the moon. I can’t wait for the sequel to this movie: Nuke the Moon. It’s coming the moon. Prepare to be nuked.
Cars - Oh Pixar, how I love thee. From the character design to it’s inclusion of the greatest American comic of all time, Larry the Voiceover Actor, this movie has a lot for me to like. Now usually I’m not a car guy (I own a Saturn for the sake of Pete) and I have no interest in NASCAR whatsoever, but that’s all ear-elephant when it comes to movie time. Here’s the classic tale of the car who thinks he has it all but doesn’t then loses it all and subsequently gains it all back plus the stuff he didn’t know he was missing before. While the storyline may not be the originalest, the characters are wonderfully robust for animated characters. In fact, I don’t think there’s too many characters in the whole Pixar line up that aren’t own-the-action-figure worthy. Which when you think of it, is really quite impressive with all their movies over the years. As much as I liked this one, and while I’m still gonna see the heck out of Cars 2, I hope that Pixar gets back into gear making new characters in new titles. Please don’t become part of sequelmania Pixar!
Holy Rollers - Jesse Eisenberg stars as a Hasidic Jew who is lured into the world of international ecstasy smuggling. As you can imagine, this career path does not end up well for our naive Jewish friend. I really wanted to like this movie as I think it’s a wonderful premise for a movie (based on true events too!), but ultimately I found it to be a little dull. Jesse Eisenberg is good, add this to his amazing performance in the Social Network, and I think this guy has some real star power. Now, let’s just see if we can’t shoehorn him into some franchise that he has no business being in. Maybe he could play Ian Malcolm in a remake of Jurassic Park.
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