Category: Movies

Movie Review: That’s What I Am

“That’s What I Am” on IMDB

Comedy, 101 Minutes, 2011

My wife enjoyed this more than I did – by a fairly large margin so take that for what it’s worth.  It’s not that I didn’t like the film it’s simply that I thought it was being a little lazy at times and a little scatter-brained at others.  It really didn’t know what story it wanted to tell (so it tried to tell them all) or how it wanted to tell it.

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Movie Review: Hobo with a Shotgun

“Hobo with a Shotgun” on IMDB

Action/Comedy, 86 Minutes, 2011

As much as I’m normally a fan of the grindhouse genre and recent homages I found myself having trouble with “Hobo with a Shotgun”.  It’s easy to take the simple path out: the film is meant, by loving design, to appear like the best (worst?) low-budget, over-the-top gore-fests of the early 80’s.  Most people will watch a few minutes and walk away blaming the production values or the gore or both.

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Movie Review: The Switch

“The Switch” on IMDB

Romantic Comedy, 101 Minutes, 2010

Meh.

This is the same basic, cookie-cutter, rom-com recipe that seems to draw Jennifer Aniston in like a fly to honey.  Jason Bateman’s career hasn’t been doing nearly as well as his talent deserves so he can be forgiven nearly any sin at this point, but Aniston is really driving herself into a nice, comfortable, completely unchallenging rut.

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Movie Review: Thor

“Thor” on IMDB

Action/Adventure, 115 Minutes, 2011

Good movie.  Took my son, he enjoyed it as well.

I never personally read Thor (or many Marvel comics, being a DC Universe kind of guy) so I had very little background to go on, but I believe they struck the right tone here.  For fans of the other Avenger movies (“The Hulk”, “Iron Man”, etc) there are plenty of inside-jokes and the ever-suffering Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is given his largest role yet.

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Movie Review: The Green Hornet

“The Green Hornet” on IMDB 

Action/Comedy, 119 Minutes, 2011

I really (REALLY) wanted to like this.  In the end I just couldn’t.

I’m not sure why but more often than not Seth Rogen just has this ability to drain the joy out of things.  I noticed it first and most dramatically in “Observe and Report” but also in “Funny People” and “Zach and Miri Make a Porno“.  It’s odd because I actually would say, if asked, that I’m a fan of his.  I like that he pushes the envelope; that he doesn’t go for the easy laughs.  But just as often as this works, it fails and sometimes spectacularly so.

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