Chronicle review

Title: Chronicle

When: Sunday in February

Where: South Side Works full price

Mood: I had spent a pleasant afternoon with a friend, had a beautiful winter day, had eaten a good meal, and was ready to be entertained

Previews: The two that stood out were the Avengers and Hunger Games.  I'm excited for both!  Note to self: see Captain America soon before the Avengers.  I've seen Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, and every other super hero movie leading to the greatness of Joss Whedon's much anticipated Avengers.

Snack:  Popcorn from the snack bar.  I warn you this rant may be longer than the actual review.  This popcorn is HORRIBLE! The worst part is, I already knew this from previous experience.  It just smelled and looked good, and while it was edible, it has this weird fish oil like aftertaste that really is gross. Why I ever shelled out 5 bucks for this nasty treat is beyond my imagination.  I must have been hungry.

With Whom: Mr. Smith

I enjoyed this movie very much. 
That may sound boring, but it is the short truth.  I was looking forward to this movie since seeing the first previews and the only thing that would have prevented me from seeing it is the increasingly frequent commercials for it, especially during Teen Mom. 

You may think you have heard this story before, and I admit, it is a familiar combination of storylines.  Three teens, one a "loner, randomly discover a hole in the ground that leads them to have supernatural powers (flying, telekinesis, etc.) The loner has a rough life.  Dad beats him, mom is terminally ill, he is bullied, never kissed a girl, all the teen angst issues rolled into one character.  The two other characters are popular and he is only with them because one is his cousin.  However, with these new powers his popularity rises.

However, to paraphrase Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, with great power comes great responsibility. Funny, I always thought Yoda said that.  And what does power have to do with rice?  Anyway, I digress.

The bullied kid is the best at the new powers and the pent up aggression starts to leak as he starts getting revenge and causing friction with the other two boys.  I couldn't put my finger on where we may have seen this before until Mr. Smith mentioned the great Stephen King's Carrie.  Yes, it is very, very similar to that story line.  In this case the bullied is a boy and the father is the whacked out parent instead of a girl and her mother. 

And then of course during some of the climatic scenes I was reminded of both the exploding several moments on screen during the shaky Transformers movies where it seems like the director just wanted to blow shit up, and of Hancock, where the characters really love each other but someone has to win.

The action is all filmed by characters in the movie.  They use the main characters filming themselves "chronicling" their new powers.  For other scenes, they use a female video blogger's footage and security and news cameras angles.  This technique was used in Blair Witch Project and other movies but was still a good technique to use. If not they would have had to rename the movie.

All joking aside, I was entertained, satisfied with the ending, enjoyed the plot, and even though I thought it was a horror film from the ads, I was not disappointed.  I would recommend it for a future Netflix or Red Box rental.

Even with all of these copycat issues, I really liked the movie.

Random Facts:  According to IMDB.com, the main character and the girl who plays Monica have been dating for 6 years.

The one character played Alex on Parenthood.  They randomly wrote him out of that show and he sort of disappeared from that world. When he first appeared in the ads we joked "There he is!"  I like his acting and hope to see him in more things soon. His name isn't hard to remember, it is Michael B. Jordan. Many of you know him as Vince from Friday Night Lights.

Rating: 4 out of 5 bags of popcorn.  The good kind, not South Side works!

Bruno

Bruno

People take offense at many things.  I try to be open-minded and accepting but sometimes I can't help laughing at something that you know is just wrong to laugh at. Sacha Baron Cohen has many predecessors-Tom Green, Jackass, Beavis and Butthead to name a few - but some may argue this movie crosses several lines worse than these folks do.  While I will not argue that the movie isn't offensive I will say it is brilliant as springboard in discussing homophobia, religious wars, wrongly worshiping celebrities, politics, and so much more.  A line in the movie analyzing Bruno's talk show states, "This is the worst piece of crap I've ever seen."  I beg to differ.

Title: Bruno

When: January 28, 2012 Saturday evening

Where: Home on HBO

Mood: Awake but tired from a day on my feet at the library.  Looking for mindless entertainment.

With whom: myself

Random Fact:  Several local movie theaters warned that you were watching this movie at your own risk and would not receive a refund if you were offended.

I mentioned at the beginning that my mood was looking for mindless entertainment.  Well, this movie is thought provoking yet funny but not for the easily offended.

I was channel surfing and saw this movie had just started on HBO.  A funny note about this is that I thought I checked it out of the library last week but it was not Bruno, it was Borat, my mistake.  Borat is equally funny and offensive but Bruno goes beyond what some consider gross at times.  I however found it to be hilarious.  Again, inappropriate laughter is one of my weaknesses, but I found Bruno to be a smart film, aimed at showing how much hate is in the world but going to extremes to make its point. 

Bruno is a gay fashion obsessed man who wants nothing more than to become famous.  He tries talking to celebrities, creating a talk show, negotiating peace in the Middle East, adopting an African baby, etc.  He even tries several ways to become straight including cage fighting.  All of these things poked fun at Americans who are obsessed with celebrities, people who are homophobic, and politicians and celebrities themselves.  It is a social commentary about how illogical some of our belief systems can be and how some people can hate other people so much based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and more. 

I laughed several times at Bruno's antics and, while some things seemed staged, the fact that people like those portrayed on the film are so full of ignorance and/or hate is funny but also extremely sad.   

I think Sacha is a genius and even though his characters act like imbeciles he has to be one smart cookie in real life; he did go to Cambridge after all.

Did you know:  My favorite "character" Sacha does is as the voice of King Julien, in DreamWorks' family movie Madgascar (2005) as well as its 2008 sequel.  (You've got to Move It, Move It!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoNkfOHBzQk

 Sacha is currently on screen in the Academy Award Nominated film Hugo.

McBeth's rating: 4 out of 5 bags of popcorn

Adventureland

The experience of watching a movie at home versus the theater has its obvious differences.  I have a small home theater with surround sound and a comfy couch to put the legs up. It is casual but I still take my movie experience seriously. If you watch a movie at home with me and you talk I will shush you. And shushing is part of my professional training from Librarian School.  And don’t you dare guess the end of the movie out loud please.  My sister (AKA Mother #6) can confirm that I hate this and will hold a grudge about it until the end of time which, as the media keeps reminding us, may be December of this year. Mr. Smith and I don’t care if the world ends in 2012 as long as we get to see the Hobbit first. Luckily it comes out a week before doomsday.*

One of the advantages of watching a movie at home is rewinding the funny parts.  I remember watching Back to the Future over and over again on VHS with my nephew Nick when he was young. We would rewind the part where the model car runs off the table, catches the trash on fire, and Doc Brown gasps.  For some reason it caused uncontrollable giggles every time.  I am sad to say that the movie I am reviewing here today did not give me the giggles or any cause to rewind.  In fact, I was tempted to Fast Forward.

 Title: Adventureland

When: January 16, 2012 Monday

Where: Home on DVD

Mood: It was MLK Jr. Day and I had the day off.  To avoid cleaning I watched a movie.  Kinda bored before the movie which, as you will see, may have affected my review  

Previews: Nothing note-worthy that I hadn’t already seen

With whom: Me and the Dust bunnies

RANDOM FACT(S): Another Pittsburgh connection with this movie.  “Adventureland” was really Kennywood Park in this movie and part of what actually kept my interest in the film was recognizing different parts of the park.  The real Adventureland park is located in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island

Adventureland is, I guess, part coming of age story, part romance, part comedy.  I normally like these types of movies but I was bored.  NOTHING HAPPENS.  I wasn’t expecting a grand mystery or a laugh a minute but I was not impressed and didn’t find anything funny.  I am still trying to decide if I like Kristen Stewart’s acting or not.  With this cast I expected bigger things.  I wanted to see more of Kristen Wiig and less of Kristen Stewart.  The movie did capture the atmosphere of a typical summer job and the nostalgia of the 80’s.  It reminds you of being a teen working a crappy low paying when you’d rather be hanging with friends or doing anything else. Then again, you don’t have to been a teen in 1988 to pine for this.

The product placement was a success too because for some reason I really want one of the Games, Games, Games t-shirts some of the characters wore.

However, I didn’t like any of the characters except for the park owners (SNL’s Wiig and Bill Hader) and there was far too little of them.  I lied, I did actually laugh out loud when the owners were gluing googley eyes on the stuffed banana prizes and they didn’t have any more eyes so Kristen Wigg was gluing on eye patches.  Stuffed bananas and/or Samuel L Jackson with an eye patch will always cause a giggle.

I found the main character whiny and insecure and wanted to shout at him “just take out a damn loan for grad school like everyone else and stop blaming your parents’ financial losses for your misery” but then I would be breaking my own silence during movies rule. Also, there were too many people getting kicked or punched in the balls and too many embarrassing accidental erections. Save the crotch humor for Jackass and Funniest Home Videos.

I was okay with the ending but was left still bored.  Kristen Stewart’s character seemed stoic the whole time so I don’t know if it was an act or even she disliked the storyline.

This was a decent movie to watch at home on a slow day but I’m glad I didn’t pay for it. I’d recommend rewatching Back to the Future instead.

Sidebar – If you want details on the plot, characters, or other info I won’t be going into much detail in these blogs.  For more info about such things please visit my favorite website, the Internet Movie Database at http://www.imdb.com/

Did you know – I borrowed this movie for free from my local library.  In case you didn’t know, libraries have tons of movies you can borrow and watch for free.  If they don’t have a copy of what you want at your local library, but they own it at another library, you can reserve it and have it sent to the library of your choice for you to borrow.  Just a fun fact from your friendly part-time librarian!

*I do realize that this is only Part 1 and that if the world ends I will never see Part 2.  Whew, good thing I read the book.

So friends, what did you think of Adventureland? What is your favorite movie filmed in or near your town?

Overall: 2 ½ out of 5 bags of popcorn

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review

I watch a lot of movies.  I mean A LOT OF MOVIES. I am a cinema junkie.  I can link Charlie Chaplin to Kate Winslet in the Kevin Bacon game in 8 moves.* I know trivia about actors and probably can guess who is going to win awards at the most movie award shows even if I haven’t seen the majority of the movies.   So I wanted to start a blog to track the movies I see in a year but will probably throw in books, TV, general rants, and restaurant reviews.  The rants may or may not be about these items. I generally will watch any movie even if it is crap and there are just some movies that I will watch if they are playing on TV, no matter what else is on my to do list for the day.  But that will be a future blog post.  For now I’d like to start with the first review of the year. Without further ado is movie #1.

Title: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

When: January 9, 2012 Monday

Where: South Side Works on $5 night

Mood: It was my birthday so I was excited for a night out to celebrate.  It was crowded but not bad seats. 

Previews: Missed because late.  Perplexed by shortness of previews, credits rolling 6 minutes after start time.  Never would happen at Waterfront AMC. You could eat a 5 course meal before those movies actually start.

Snack: Pittsburgh Popcorn Wisconsin Cheddar

With whom: Mr.  Smith

I admit I didn’t read the book.  It is a bestseller, I am a librarian, it was our book club selection, etc., etc. BRING ON THE GUILT TRIP.  But I really enjoyed this movie and only was confused by a few things since I didn’t read the book.

One of the main characters, Lisbeth, is kickass.  She goes through a terrible ordeal and while the question of her sanity may remain for some I think she is unique and intriguing.  I enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery and although the names and dates were confusing I was satisfied with the plot and character development.

However, being a teacher of learning skills and things like note taking, I stifled laughter at the scene in which Mikael, the journalist investigating a woman missing for 40 years, was reading the files and highlighting.  I know it was a plot device for the audience to read what he was reading but he ended up highlighting the WHOLE PAGE which is a big note taking no-no.  There is always at least one unnecessary scene in a movie. Mr. Smith and I think this may have been it.

The movie is hardcore and not without violence. I was considering reaching into my bag for my smuggled popcorn when one of the rape scenes came on.  Of course as a woman I was appalled and sickened by this scene.  However, I became distracted by observing who around me continued to eat.  Mr. Smith and I later discussed the appropriate amount of time to wait until you continue to eat your popcorn after a violent or disturbing scene or movie death.  I think the average is about 10 minutes after the scene is over assuming the next scene is not as brutal. But I slept through Statistics class so this is very unscientific.

I look forward to the sequel and, while Lisbeth is not without faults, I will be cheering for her again.

RANDOM FACT(S): Rooney Mara who plays Lisbeth was totally transformed into this character and has a Pittsburgh connection. She is related to the Steeler owning Rooney family.  Her sister is also an actress and recently appeared in one of my new favorite shows, American Horror Story.

*Oh, and if you are curious, here is the answer to the Chaplin to Winslet maze:

Charlie Chaplin was in the Kid with Carl Miller who was in No Ransom with Philip Holmes who was in General Spanky with George 'Spanky' McFarland who was in the Aurora Encounter with Jack Elam who was in Bonanza: Under Attack the TV movie with Ben Johnson who was in Angels in the Outfield with Danny Glover who is in The Color Purple with Laurence Fishburne  who is in Contagion with Kate Winslet.

One last sidebar – Jack Elam and Danny Glover were both characters on Lonesome Dove.  However, Jack was on the TV series and Danny was in the made for tv mini-series.

So friends, what did you think of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie and/or book?  What movies have you seen so far this year?

Overall: 4 ½ out of 5 bags of popcorn