^ Yoda: It's, um. Awkward good. I find some of the profanities and dumb dialogue more distracting than actually amusing; but I really liked (of all things) the story I love Liev Schreiber a lot and even Sean William Scott. I definitely gotta see it again though -- I was stoned when I did watch it. >______>
Wrist Slitters: A Love Story
This is a weird yet hauntingly nice movie. It deals with a strange version of limbo; the everyday lives of people in a 'lifeless' purgatory. People can't smile (which makes how the actors are able to get across that they're amused or happy without their faces necessarily indicating it very impressive), they still work day jobs (which becomes ironic for suicides trying to escape from life only to manage getting into a new one that's ...just slightly worse), and the colours are all drained out and dull. Meanwhile, we get a surprisingly wonderful and diverse cast in what's clearly a a somewhat budgeted indie film. I recommend it; it's weird, and maybe not a favourite, but its imagination really stuck with me. The ideas are creative, and the story is fun to follow.
tl;dr Strange and poignant, very different; but very sweet.
Beetlejuice:
This was a re-watch. Y'know when you're young you'll watch/enjoy a movie without really 100% understanding it? Anyways. I love this film; I do like how Geena and Alec are just these really nice people (but dear god, poor Geena stuck in the awful floral print dress); but it's definitely Keaton as Beetlejuice that steal the WHOLE show for what's -- probably -- 20 minutes of screentime. He is wacky and owns the role completely. Rumor of a sequel has been hitting the net, and by god I have nothing against that (aside from Burton being...out of his element these days; I hope this could bring it back?). I love a lot of the strange bureaucratic after-life, the bizarre sandworms from saturn[?], the fact that any of this exists at all is such a damn strange look into what happens when you die. It's odd, it's funny, and it loves being strange. I also noticed (for the first time) the huge gash on Juno's throat which makes her smoking absolutely cringe-worthy.
tl;dr Classic, though it does take leaps and bounds to get the mythos out there and does little to explain it.
Bridge to Terabithia
Yeah yeah, I'm a bit too old for this film. But I like all kinds of movies, even family films, and since I read the book in grade school and wanted to see how it was adapted. The trailer is worth mentioning here because of how they passed it off as a "Lord of the Rings" with modern-age kids in some fantasy world, but it's really just a coming of age story with kids doing "kid-things" and playing games of 'pretend'.
It's a good film though. The ending always makes me super sad, and yeah, I suppose that's the point, and meant to demonstrate the hard part of growing up and moving passed childish things... but it's still hard to watch (I'm happy to add though, it was really well handled).
I absolutely HATE Leslie's parents though; it's a nuance, but it's probably my least favorite thing in this movie because they're so fucking perfect it's almost laughable. Even in the heart-wrenching ending they seem to be just glazing over their problems.
tl;dr Dat ending... Pretty good, sometimes hammy.
The Way Way Back
I gotta comment on the talents in this film:
= Toni Collette I think is a wonderful actress and she's usually cast a lot. I'm glad her looks (which are definitely a step below the average Hollywood lady) don't hamper that. She deals with a hard truth in the movie and does a good job of it as well.
= Liam James plays the annoying kid who's gotta do the growing up. He starts off quite insufferable, and changes a bit. But by god he's acting like a stick in the mud and his face just annoys me. I guess you need a kind of...homely kid to play his role, but he looks like he eating a sweet but poisonous berry half the time and sounds like his cracking voice is disrupting his acting.
= Dunno who the kid is with the lazy eye, but I fucking loved him.
= Steve Carrell can't play a 'bad guy'. I admire when actor's move out of their comfort zone, but this wasn't his role for it. The scene where he becomes the 'bad guy' feels really fucking forced and stupid too.
=Sam Rockwell is worth the price of admission here; he blows the role any role out of the water.
This movie felt somewhat by the numbers; but I'm happy to say I liked it about 1000x more than Adventureland.
Anyways, watch it once, it's worth it for Rockwell and just for general entertainment...then move along.
tl;dr Decent coming of age film, interesting cast, Sam Rockwell is the MAN.
We Bought a Zoo
This is a cute premise and is based on a true story. Though idealized and just kinda "goody-goody" in general.
I actually have a lot of beef with old-man widower Matt Damon getting flirty with Scarlet Johanson. I'm getting a bit ahead of the point here: But hell, no wonder there's so much pressure for female Hollywood celebrities to go through ridiculous cosmetic surgeries or stay super-fit, and have this perfect hair... and then you cast a freaking model and superstar celebrity as your head zookeeper.
This movie is sweet otherwise. The main kid is a punk, the little girl is sweet, and Matt Damon is Matt Damon. I also like animals, so seeing a bunch in a film is swell too!
tl;dr Scar Jo is too hot for her role...lol. Very pedestrian but nice.
In America
I feel like the poster lies about this film making it look grander and more exciting than it is. It's about a family that's come to America, but basically almost penniless. They're also somewhat grieving over the loss of their youngest son. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, but I found it quite depressing as well. The ending is a happy one, and a lot of good is scattered in it, but too often I found myself just getting blue at how rough this Irish immigrant family has it.
tl;dr It's good; but it's not always easy to watch.
Epic
Mm. Cute. I like a of the ideas, but they seem kinda shoved in and completely out of left field sometimes. The voice cast is decent, but I feel it's a bad habit out of a lot of recent animated films to shove in whatever celebrities they can get a hold of -- and oh boy, does this film ever!! Irish people (Ferrel & O'Dowd)! Budding young actor and actress (Hutcherson & Seigfried)! Black songstress (Knowles)! Rap icon (Putbull)! Rock icon(Stephen fucking Tyler)! Indian comedian (Ansari)! And let's just snowball in everyone's favorite Austrian -- Christoph Waltz! When it gets like this, I feel that the decisions to cast them are half-hearted and simply distracting. It's a pretty film; I mean, that goes for like all animated films these days; but the forestry and flourishes are indeed lovely. The idea for how people can't kill bugs easily is amusing and clever.
tl;dr Lots of random voice casting, cute animated film, entertaining, but graphically lovely.
