Friends With Kids

So, I had very high expectations for this film since there were four actors from Bridesmaids, one from Parks and Recreation, and I have generally enjoyed Jennifer Westfeldt's writing in the past. The movie was released back in March and made it's way into about 640 theaters across the country and brought in about $7 million. It's written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also created Kissing Jessica Stein and Ira & Abby.

The plot is centered around a platonic couple who love each other just not in that way, played by Westfeld and Adam Scott, who decide to have a baby together and split the responsibilities in order to avoid the pitfalls of their friends' marriages, played by John Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Christopher O'Dowd (who were all in Bridesmaids together). Megan Fox and Edward Burns are also in the movie.

Well, I was under the impression this was going to be an ensemble comedy with social commentaries about the nuances of relationships with and without children. It actually turned out to be a romantic comedy with some ensemble scenes strewn along the plot. There was some humor and some social undertones but I would categorize the plot as more of a dramedy with the rest of the cast and a romantic comedy with the two leads. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't entirely disappointing. The characters were mostly believable and entertaining to watch. Westfeldt's dialogue, as always, was much better than the generic filler found in most romcoms. In the grand scheme of things, the plot was rather cliched however it didn't follow the same formula to get there as most do.

The pace of the movie was a little choppy, however this was probably due more to the time span of the plot instead of the editing choices. The soundtrack was pretty great and I'm actually going to look up the soundtrack and spotify it after this review. Set design and wardrobe was very pretty.

The movie made it past just being 'eh' because of the ridiculous amount of talent in these bunch of actors. Personally, I would have loved for it to focus more on all sets of the friends, but Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt are so darn charismatic that I enjoyed their scenes together as well. I had read in an interview that Wiig doesn't consider herself a comedian (I think, I could be thinking of someone else) but she really showed her range in this role and was still awesome. Since most of the humor and social commentaries were from the interactions between the four friends, that was the most entertaining part in my opinion. The romantic comedy between Scott and Westfeldt was entertaining as well, but in a different way. Also these two pretty much make you feel inadequate as a parent.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. Not as much as I was planning to, but it was still way above the normal romcoms with billion dollar budgets. The critics seem to be pretty split on the movie as either a romcom with filler or smart and witty. I think it had elements of both and was entertaining. I think this would mostly appeal to chick-flick lovers and/or parents. "Would you rather die of a long slow disease or watch the love of your life die of a long slow disease?

Safety Not Guaranteed

Well, somehow I had not heard of this movie at all as of two weeks ago. Luckily, I have some of the best friends around and one of them, thankfully, told me about this wonderful movie and went with me to see it in one of the few theaters showing it's limited release. It's a little indie comedy that's currently showing in 46 theaters, one of them being the Regal Arbor in Austin.

The movie is from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine and from first time writer and director, Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow. The story follows a magazine reporter, Jake Johnson, and two of his interns, Aubrey Plaza and Karan Soni, as they investigate the man who wrote the classified ad looking for a partner to go back in time with, played by Mark Duplass. It's a totally made up story about the totally real-life classified ad.

The writing was superb in the film and the dialogue had oh about one million great quotable one-liners. The characters were flawed, likable, real, funny, and just all around great. The story didn't follow the expected hollywood arches and plot lines and it was quite refreshing. The first half of the movie did have a faster pace than the last half but was barely noticeable and certainly didn't affect the likability of the overall movie. There were some genuine scenes in the movie about the connections between the characters and there were also some really humorous scenes thrown in there without ruining the genuine feeling of the plot and characters.

The movie had the shallow depth of field in a lot of scenes which I've come to expect and love from these microbudget indies. The soundtrack was also pretty great. The time was taken to frame the scenes as to capture the feeling and tone of the action taking place, instead of just doing close-ups, mids, and wides to advance the plot along.

Aubrey Plaza rocked my socks off in this movie. I loved her performance in Scott Pilgrim and she's also my second favorite character from my new favorite TV show, Parks and Recreation. She is an expert at dead-pan comedy and plays the part well in this film. In addition to the funny moments she pulled off with ease, she also had some really genuine dramatic parts in there as well. Jake Johnson, who is officially impossible not to like, was also great. There were many douchebaggery aspects to his character but you couldn't help look past his faults because he's just so damn likable. I hope these two do more movies together! Oh, Mark Duplass was pretty fantastic as well. Even though his character was most likely certifiably crazy, he was still so sweet and awesome. Oh, and look out for a Kristen Bell cameo and a little cameo from the actual dude who wrote the real classified ad!

I really like the movie. I had high expectations and wasn't disappointed one bit. It was a super cute movie. It's definitely for the audience that likes these little subdued quirky movies. It's listed as a 'sci-fi comedy' because of the time-traveling aspect but the movie is really just about the connections we make with people and what's really important in life. "Have you ever faced certain death? If it was so certain, I wouldn't be here, would I?" "There's no sense in nonsense, especially when the heat's hot".

Dark Shadows

So I hadn't heard much about this movie until I saw a trailer a couple weeks ago with Johnny Depp and Chloe Grace Moretz in it and I decided I needed to see this movie. Oh, and my best friend got engaged at this movie - well before this movie. I went and sat through the entire movie and nobody proposed! The movie has already surpassed it's $150 million budget by racking in about $191 million worldwide in about three weeks so far.

The movie is based on a dysfunctional family headed by a centuries-old vampire and was apparently based on a tv show that I've never heard of before. Chloe Grace Moretz and Michelle Pfeiffer play part of the cursed Collins family. Helena Bonham Carter and Jackie Earle Haley also play characters in the movie and there's even a cameo from Alice Cooper himself.

From the trailer I had seen, I was expecting a completely satirical parody of the vampire genre - thankfully, this was not the case. While the script was dripping with satire, it was believable and comedic without being overbearing. It was the always fun dysfunctional eccentric family comedy on vampire steroids. While the ending was a little untidy - the rest of the plot was pretty great with only a couple of jumpy lags here and there. The dialogue was quite clever and each character's dialogue fit their personality. There were lots of great one-liners.

The soundtrack was amazing - but it was set in the 70's so that's only natural. The effects, cinematography, and set design (especially the set design) was great. It had hints of Tim Burton without being overbearing. The set that the built for Collinswood was amazing. Apparently they built a model that was 1/3 of the actual size to accommodate filming. How cool is that?

Johnny Depp was great as always. Say what you will, but he's a superb character actor. He was reserved enough to be believable without being overly eccentric. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter were in their element. Chloe Grace Moretz was extremely funny and awesome.

In the end, I thought this was a great movie. It was two hours of fun packed into one movie. Who doesn't love the eccentric dysfunctional family movie? Now imagine vampires, witches, and werewolves thrown in there? Of course you want to see that. "This is Barnabas Collins and I'm pretty sure he just called me a hooker".

Snow White and the Huntsman

So, being a Kristen Stewart fan, I was destined to love this movie and was uber excited when it finally came out. It swept first place this last weekend and in fact I saw some crazy people waiting in line an hour before hand for the 11 oclock showing on Saturday night. It's already brought in about $100 million worldwide in it's first weekend and will no doubt surpass it's $170 million budget.

The movie stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth in the dark and twisted version of the classic story in stark contrast to this year's earlier Mirror Mirror. (Interestingly, Lily Collins tried out for the part in this movie and lost to Kristen Stewart, however later landing the lead in Mirror Mirror). It's basically the classic tale told as a fantasy war story instead of the dopey romance we've come to know and love.

The plot kept all of the familiar elements but made them feel a little bit more adult. The plot felt like a mixture of fantasy and a historical period piece. Of course there was a love triangle thrown into the mix which (kinda) made sense. I read some negative reviews about the dialogue and I'll agree that it wasn't anything spectacular but the real spectacle came from the visual effects anyway. The ending was horribly contrived and abrupt, but the pace in the rest of the movie flowed quite nicely.

This was a beautiful movie. The CG imagery and effects are almost unparalleled (at least so far this year). Unfortunately, the biggest and best effects were already revealed in the trailers. The set design, wardrobe, and sound mixing made everything feel dark and moody and was just a stunning piece of work all around, cinematically speaking.

Well of course I think that Kristen Stewart did a great job. I love her non-verbal acting, although I'm sure the haters will still hold to their opinions. I think she even pulled off a believable English accent. Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron also just as good. There was great acting all around, I just wish that they had been given more substance to the dialogue, but even with the simple plot advancing lines they had, they were all believable and showed their emotions perfectly.

In the end, I thought this was a good movie. Which is a first. I've loved all of Kristen Stewart's movies, thus far. I don't love this movie nor do I think it's horrible. It was on par with what I was expecting. Unfortunately all of the visuals were revealed in the trailers for the movie and there were very few surprises since the most striking part of the movie were the visuals. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys these type of fantasy dramas. It would make a great rental movie for everyone else. "I've seen what she sees. I can kill her".

Winter's Bone

So, I remember hearing so much about this darn movie at last last year's Oscars and thinking it looked horribly depressing. I decided to finally give it a try after there was nothing good at the Redbox and wanting to see if Jennifer Lawrence really deserved all the nominations she got for the role. It's (supposedly) the lowest grossing film to be nominated for Best Picture since 1983. It was released in about 140 cinemas back in June of 2010 and has brought in about $13 million (surpassing it's $2 million budget).

The movie stars Jennifer Lawrence, as Ree Dolly, a 17 year old girl who lives in the Ozark Mountains and takes care of her two younger siblings and mentally ill mother while her father is out on bail from some drug charges. She learns that if her father skips his court date, they will lose their house. She sets out to find out where her father is to prevent this from happening and must endure some of the craziest and harshest things imaginable - especially for a 17 year old girl.

The plot is taken from a book. The book must be pretty well written, because the plot feels quite genuine and very interesting. From the trailer, I thought the movie was like True Grit - surviving in the wilderness and snow etc. Thankfully, it's not. That's probably what kept me from seeing this before. The movie is very much grounded in reality and Lawrence's character gets little to no special treatment in this movie because she's a girl. She still gets beat up, but it's by the women characters instead of the men - which makes it ethical, right? I liked how the plot wasn't just about Lawrence's character setting out in search of 'the truth. She had to still take care of her responsibilities at home and she had to look past 'the truth' and just get what she needed to save her house, and in turn her family. She had to put aside her feelings for her father and just get what she needed. The plot really draws you in, even in the bleak and depressing setting. There's something about Lawrence's strength that gives you a glimmer of hope even if she's destined to stay there for awhile.

I'm going to assume that the locations the movie were shot at were genuine. If not, it was some amazing set design. There was no beauty to be found in the locations. The beauty came from the characters and plot. In fact, the wardrobe and locations were there as a constant reminder of just what kind of world they were living in.

Okay, okay. Jennifer Lawrence deserves the accolades for this role. Anyone who learns to skin a squirrel on camera deserves some sort of award in my book. She gave an unflinching performance and used subtle reactions and facial expressions to really bring out the dramatic scenes, i.e. the boat scene. She had a natural sounding accent and showed her emotions in the right place, instead of just playing is stone cold as in some of this hard-knock-life movies. I also really enjoyed John Hawkes' performance. I just saw him in Martha Marcy May Marlene and he's definitely on a roll. He was able to transform his character in this movie to show that first appearances are not always right.

The movie is quite depressing and bleak but somehow it's still very interesting and you can't help but love Lawrence's character. She doesn't have this blind sense of chivalry - she just needs to save her house or they'll all be out on the street. It's definitely a plot you don't forget. The cornerstone of the movie is Lawrence's performance. "You don't ever ask for what oughtta be offered".

Martha Marcy May Marlene

So at first when I heard about this movie last year, I was extremely interested because any movie with that title just had to be good, right? I'd heard tons of buzz about the movie and about Elizabeth Olsen's stellar debut performance. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it in the theaters. Then I became a little wary of the movie because I started hearing about how terrifying the movie was. I googled some of the basic plot points ( I know, I'm lame ) just to make sure I could handle it, being the scaredy cat that I am. Obviously, I made it through it in one piece. The film premiered at last year's Sundance, is from first time writer/director Sean Durkin, and is also Elizabeth Olsen's debut performance. The movie was picked up for a small release into about 180 theaters last year and brought in about $3 million.

The plot follows Olsen as the title character, Martha, who escapes from a "family" cult in upstate New York to seek refuge with her sister. In the cult, she was called Marcy May, and forced to play her role in the "family". She later takes the name of Marlene when speaking on the phone, as all of the "family" women do. So basically, the title is quite awesome. I digress. Olsen's character is plagued by her memories and brainwashing during her stay with her sister which eventually lead to her inability to function socially.

Thankfully, the plot isn't about crazy cult members trying to come after her. It's actually quite scarier, since it's her mind that is coming after her and it's not anything she can hide from. Plus, this is something that can, and I'm sure does, happen in our world. The plot takes the old cliche'd path to inter-splice the past and present together chronologically to reveal each story together. However, this time it's done right. The editing was brilliant but I'll address that in the next paragraph. The intersplicing of the past mid-scene made complete sense because she was reliving her experiences at the smallest trigger and the plot helped to reveal how at every moment she was thinking about her past experiences. Her character was wonderfully well written and quite empathetic, even when she made some bad choices.

The editing was pure brilliance. The scenes would cut and almost melt seamlessly into each other - again showing how she was reliving her experiences at every moment. How she couldn't escape what was in her mind. It was just great. Loved it. The ambiance and colorization between the past and present scenes were perfectly matched and almost indistinguishable until you saw the context of the scenes - again reinforcing the character's internal struggle. The lack of suspenseful music (with the exception of one scene) was again brilliant. This movie was suspenseful based on the performances and struggle of the characters alone.

Olsen really did a fantastic job. Something I would not have expected from a debut performance from the younger sister of the Olsen twins. She was riveting to watch and delivered her lines with the utmost realism. She was able to make external, through her face, body, and movements, what was going on internally with this character. Hugh Dancy was also quite convincing and effective in his role. As were most of the cult members.

In the end, the movie was not as outwardly terrifying as I was afraid of. In an essence it was even more so, however it was something I could deal with. I liked how it wasn't the run-of-the-mill story where the brainwashed damaged character turns completely crazy while dealing with their issues. Instead, her brainwashing intensified until she was able to not completely function socially but at the same time not go batshit crazy. This movie may feel slow to those who are not invested in this character, but I don't see how you couldn't be invested since Olsen really steals every scene she's in. "Do you ever have a problem telling what's a memory and what's real?"

Like Crazy

So, I hadn't really heard of this movie ever before seeing it at the Redbox and then seeing a trailer on another movie I recently watched. The secret hopeless romantic in me wanted to watch this movie, plus my also secret admiration for Anton Yelchin. This movie, which premiered at last year's Sundance, was produced on one of my favorite cameras and was completed with only a budget of $250,000.00. It got a limited release in about 160 theaters and made about $3 million.

The movie is about a young post-grad couple played by Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones as they work through their struggles and breakups due to Felicity's character, Anna, overstaying her visa and therefore earning a ban from the U.S. They must deal with a relationship across the pond from each other and all the struggles that entails.

The director and actors have all recounted how all of the dialogue was improvised with the screenplay only containing the direction of the scenes. Honestly, it doesn't feel as improvised as some entirely improvised scripts. These two actors did a great job developing a rapport with each other. At the same time, they didn't get too removed from the plot with all of their improvisation. The plot did get somewhat redundant by the end of the film, however those two were just too darn cute to care too much about it. The long-distance relationship woe-is-me plot has been done numerous times but this one felt somehow more real by bringing in the immigration problems (and slick editing) so that quite literally this couple couldn't be together, instead of most movies where they make excuses for not being together. The plot also is not idealistic about both being 100% committed to keeping up a long-distance relationship without being upfront about the difficulties.

The movie was filmed quite beautifully and had soft lenses and beautiful lighting. There were tons of little mini scenes thrown into the movie to capture their relationship. I especially loved the sleeping montage that showed about 30 one-second clips of the couple's sleeping positions in bed. It was just these little added things put into the movie that made the couple feel more real instead of just showing their discourse and plot advancing scenes.

Yelchin was a little more mature than I've seen him in although he still seemed a little too young for some of the scenes, but in all actuality they both seemed incredibly young. He was, however, extremely charming and charismatic with his scenes with Jones. Jones also did a great job creating an awesome dynamic with Yelchin. From their first scene together they felt like long-time couple (which in hindsight, there should have been at least some distance in that first scene - but it goes to show how great they did creating chemistry). Oh, and Jennifer Lawrence is in the movie. Her character kinda pops up out of nowhere and she does a nice job with her small part. I've only ever seen her in The Hunger Games, so it was nice seeing her play a completely opposite role.

In the end, it was one of those nice little indie movies for the hopeless romantic. I don't want to spoil the ending or anything, but it doesn't fall victim to the romantic comedy cliches (the ending at least which is almost a direct nod to another of my favorite films). Some of the plot does get a little redundant, and I can see this as a turn off for some. If you loved watching Pam and Jim or Rachel and Ross go back and forth, then you'll probably also like this. If you just wanted their plots to advance and stay stagnant, then stay away. "I didn't realize that it would sometimes be more than the whole, that the wholeness was a rather luxurious idea. Because it's the halves that halve you in half".