Box Watcher

I’ve seen a lot of movie this year and made a vow to review everything I saw.  Well, sometimes it’s hard to get motivated to write about a film I just don’t have much to say about.  So I’m going to rectify it one easy post!  Slacker reviewing at it’s best! 

The Reader:  Kate Winslet won the Oscar for this one and although many people say she should have won for Revolutionary Road, she did a fine job here.  The story of a woman who has an affair with a boy twenty years her junior.  Along the way she reveals a couple of big secrets about herself and their relationship goes in some strange places.  

The film is perhaps a bit too long, but still interesting.  Winslet is very good but the rest of the cast is just sort of average.  A tragic romance that raises some compelling questions about devotion and forgiveness.  

**** out of *****

My Bloody Valentine 3-D:  Fun in an 80’s slasher flick kind of way.  The 3-D is gimmicky and only really works once, maybe twice the whole film.  The story is bad and the acting is cheesy, yet it’s kind of a fun time waster.  Probably won’t play well on the small screen though. 

** out of *****

Paul Blart: Mall Cop:  Stupid, predictable, not terribly original, but I laughed like crazy.  A throwback to stupid 80’s comedy, think Police Academy with the raunch turned down.  Turned down so much it’s rated PG and suitable for families.  Kevin James is a lot of fun in this one.  

*** out of *****

Last Chance Harvey:  A grown up romantic comedy.  The film has a flaw, the plot.  It’s not terrible but it gets in the way.  Leads Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are so good together I could have just watched them hanging out the whole time.  The story is kind of cliche and at times detracts from the experience.  Still an enjoyable flick though.  

*** out of *****

New in Town:  Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick rom/com.  Mindless, harmless, and forgetable. 

** out of *****

Let the Right One In:  Swedish vampire film about a twelve-year-old boy who befriends a girl he thinks is his age.  She’s a vampire.  Pretty interesting flick I saw at an After Hours Film Society screening.  I may have more to say on this in the future. 

**** out of *****

He’s just not that in to you: Another romantic comedy that follows a group of yuppies having various relationship misadventures.  I was kind of surprised how much I liked it.  Nothing special but it has a decent cast and is genuinely funny at times.  Pretty average in most regards.  

*** out of *****

There we go, all caught up!

Last November I joined The Popcorn Panel for The Joliet Herald News.  The gist of it is having local film goers write 100 word reviews of the latest releases and give them one of three ratings: Get to the theater, Wait for DVD, or Skip it.  The editor assigns each panel member a movie to review.  The review is due the Sunday after the film is released.  Reviews are posted on the paper’s website, then printed in the “Go” section in the Friday edition of the paper.  Here are my two most recent reviews.  

 Coraline:  ”Coraline” is the story of a bored girl in a new home. Her parents persuade her to explore the house. After passing through a mysterious door in the living room, she discovers a magical world where things are just not right. Even more amazing is the character of Coraline herself, a girl resourceful enough to solve her own problems. She is a strong role model for tweens of either gender. This animated film, which some theaters are showing in 3-D, never feels gimmicky. It might be too creepy for younger kids, but the rest of the family will love it.

Rating: See it in the theater. 

Tyler Perry’s Madea goes to Jail:  Tyler Perry’s “Madea Goes to Jail” is two films in one. One is a wacky comedy stretched out too long — think of most films based on “Saturday Night Live” skits. The other is a very melodramatic morality tale that feels like an over-the-top soap opera. The comedy mostly works. The antics of Madea — Perry in grandma drag — grow tiresome as the movie goes on, but they are generally funny. The morality play, however, is so over the top it is hard to take it seriously. “Madea Goes to Jail” straddles the line between “skip it” and “wait for DVD,” but I just can’t recommend it.

Rating: Skip it.