World's Greatest Dad - a strange comedy-ish drama

The only reason I rented World's Greatest Dad is because I read that it was getting great reviews. I didn't actually read any of the reviews, I just read that it was getting good ones. And I have to say, if being a different gets you good reviews, well, then it deserved them.

WGD is a dark comedy starring Robin Williams. He plays Lance Clayton. A man who dreams of being a rich and famous writer, but has only managed to make it as a high school poetry teacher. His only son Kyle is an insufferable jackass who is really a total douche bag who hates music and likes scheisse porn. Then, in the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy of his life, but he ends up turning it into the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of. However, he begins to face the dilemma of facing the reality of how he got it all.

While this movie has it's moments, it really isn't all that good. There are some very uncomfortable situations, and I felt like I just spent the whole movie waiting for something bad to happen. And while we are one the "whole movie," I found my self checking the run time of the movie just to see how much longer I had. Now, I'm not a huge black comedy fan, but I can also appreciate the irony and art behind them. This one was just more of a drama told in kind of comedic tone with dark subject matter.

I can honestly say, that while I didn't hate this movie, I don' t think I feel comfortable recommending this to most people. Unless you are a huge Robin Williams fan, you can probably just save you time and money on this one.

Terminator Salvation - Not like the other Terminators

Terminator Salvation is not really a "Terminator" movie like the previous 3 were. There isn't a battle between 2 Terminators or one Terminator versus the rest of the world or anything like that. Terminator Salvation is basically just a bad ass action movie with Skynet, the creators of the Terminators as we know them, as the bad guys, set in the future, with the Terminator mythology as a back drop/driving force. So don't go into this one expecting to see an Arnold like machine kicking the crap out of humans, because you'll be disappointed. At least to a certain extent...don't want to give too much away to those of you who don't know anything about this current installment of the Terminator franchise. If you go in expecting to see a really cool sort of sci fi action flick, then you'll really enjoy this movie. Even the harshest critic I know, my roommate Timmy, liked it. And that's saying something.

Salvation takes place in post-apocalyptic 2018. Bad ass John Connor (played by Christian Bale) is a grown man, fighting with the Resistance against Skynet and its army of various types of machines. He is not the leader of the Resistance...yet, but is believed by most to be a prophet of some sorts because of his knowledge of the future. His certainty about the future changes when he meets Marcus Wright (played by the new it guy Sam Worthington - see Avatar, and Clash of the Titans) who is not who he seems or even who he thinks he is. Connor is in a battle with Skynet to save humanity and with the Resistance leaders to save his future. Wright is in a battle to find out who and why he is, and to figure out what is right and wrong.

The movie is basically one mind blowing action sequence after another. It is filmed in a sort of washed out style similar to, but not as extreme as Minority Report with Tom Cruise. If I had to give it a few knocks, I would say for one, the showing of the name of the director, McG, is the most egotistical, ridiculous things I've ever seen. Just pay attention at the beginning and you'll see what I'm talking about. There's a couple of completely unnecessary and/or over the top explosions, however they just add to the visual fun of the movie. And the last thing is that, for the Terminator purists, its not really like any of the others before it. One maybe positive, maybe negative, depending on your point of view is that it is not nearly the mind f@# that the others can be.

This movie is really entertaining. It has its flaws, and isn't going to be winning any awards or anything, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. And like I've said all along, the point of watching a movie is to be entertained. It's a sci fi movie, so of course you're going to be like "Yeah, right!" But that's part of the fun of watching movies. I recommend this to anyone who likes lots of action and anyone who just like to have a fun, mindless 2 hours.

Paper Heart - different and heartwarming

Paper Heart is a "love" story. It is a movie that follows the main character as she is making a documentary about love. It is a movie about a fake documentary. If that makes any sense. It follows Nick and Charlyne (the Asian stoner girlfriend from Knocked Up) as they embark on a quest across America to make a documentary to document what exactly "love" is. Along the way they interview real ministers, happily married couples, chemists, romance novelists, divorce lawyers, a group of children and more to determine the definition and perhaps even experience the mysterious emotion of love. Eventually, Michael Cera, playing himself, becomes the object of her affection. And the movie goes from being just a documentary about what love really is, to also documenting the makings of a loving relationship. It weaves together reality and fantasy, and as I said earlier, it combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling to get at modern romance.

The movie is filmed documentary style with a handheld camera which gives it a real feeling. Kind of like you are there. And since the actors are playing "themselves" you feel like you actually get to know what Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera are like in real life.

The reason indie films are indie films are because they are not made to make the "general audience" happy. They are made to make a certain type of audience happy. Sometimes that certain type is a very small type and sometimes its more broad. This one I think appeals to a more broad audience. It is a documentary about love. You hear many opinions about love. So if you like documentaries, I think you will like that aspect of the story. If you like love stories, you will like that aspect. If you like both, you will definitely like this story. But be forewarned, there isn't a lot of action, mostly interviews with people about love, and watching two awkward young people fall in love. There isn't a ton of humor or some huge falling out or dramatic entrances and exits. It is a real story or at least feels that way. Real life doesn't have an overly handsome cad confessing his love to an overly beautiful girl in the middle of a crowded room interrupting some totally important event, and this movie doesn't have that. It is a happy movie, with happy parts but some sad ones too. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, but if you are one that needs to be constantly stimulated by some crazy, zany action to enjoy a movie, then you won't like this one. If you like to see something different every once in a while, then you will really like this one, and walk away with a smile on your face.

Angels and Demons - Better than The DaVinci Code, but still not up to the book (obviously)

Like The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons could never live up to the phenomenon that was the book. Both of those books were absolutely spell binding, mind racing, thrillers. They honestly were some of the best books that I had ever read. Like most books, movies based on them just aren't as good. That's not a knock against the filmmakers. It's just damn near impossible to make a movie as good as a book that the readers read with their own imagination. It's like one of my favorite sayings, "Nothing is ever as beautiful as it is in your imagination." That is how Angels and Demons is. So try to compare the movie to the book is just unfair, so I'll do my best to look at the movie as just a movie. So the short answer is that this was a pretty good movie.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, Angels and Demons is based on the hugely popular novel by Dan Brown. It follows Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) who is a Harvard professor who specializes in symbols. When the current Pope dies unexpectedly, the conclave is formed and the process to choose a new Pope begins. This is all complicated when the four leading candidates for Pope are kidnapped. The Church calls on Langdon for help to find the Popes. He, along with the help of a beautiful scientist named Vittoria Vettra, go on a break neck journey through Rome, Italy and the Vatican to try to find the Pope's and who is behind all the evil before it is too late.

I have to say that I really liked The DaVinci Code although it lacked so much that the book had. Once again comparing it to the book. However, I liked Angels and Demons better as a movie than I did The DaVinci Code. As a stand alone thriller, it is very smart, very fast paced and very surprising. It is not like any other thriller I've ever seen before. There is intrigue, good character development, and just enough violence to keep you interested without over doing it or making it too gratuitous. One thing that many people could not stand about The DaVinici Code was Tom Hanks terrible hair cut. Well, that has been remedied. He got a regular hair cut and doesn't look like Nicolas Cage anymore. There was a part of the book that I found totally ridiculous and unbelievable that isn't in the movie which was nice. The movie takes place in Rome which is beautiful and made me want to go back there and live or something.

But, like all movies based on books, it doesn't go into as much detail on all the interesting historical facts about the churches and the Illuminati and the art, which is one of the reasons the book is so cool. But as a stand alone movie, if you didn't read the book, it is really good and you don't miss anything in the story.

I highly recommend this as a rental to anyone. If you've read the book, I don't have to tell you that it won't be as good (but there, I just did). If you haven't read the book, read the book! Its awesome! But you will like the movie as it is. It's not the greatest flick I've ever seen but it is still worth the rental and the watch by far.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - Another hilarious trailer...

When I first saw the trailer for The Goods, I giggled like a school girl. I was so pumped about the movie, I told everyone that would listen that I was going to see that as soon as it came out. I mean, the trailer was absolutely hilarious! Its a movie that stars Jeremy Piven (Ari from Entourage), Ed Helms (Andy from The Office), Ving Rhames, the naked Chinese guy from The Hangover and the cop that tases the boys from The Hangover, just to name a few. Then the reviews came out and the general consensus was that while it had a few humorous parts, it really wasn't all that funny. So, my joy deflated, I decided that I wouldn't waste $10.50 at the movie theater to watch it, I would just wait for it on DVD, and boy am I glad I did, because honestly, it really wasn't all that funny at all. Damnit!

The premise of the movie is this. Jeremy Piven leads a group of crack car salesmen and women who specialize in going to failing dealerships and emptying their inventory for them. Well, the team goes to some podunk town to help the failing dealership once again. There is of course a series of obstacles that our team must over come, there's a romance or two, and there's a happily ever after...sort of.

While there are a few funny parts in the movie, they funny parts in the trailer are way funnier in the way they are presented in the trailer than they are presented in the movie. Jeremy Piven is funny as Ari in Entourage, but not funny as Ari the used car salesman in The Goods, which is kind of exactly how he plays his character in this flick. The movie isn't a total waste though. Katheryn Hahn (SNL) is pretty funny as one of the sales team who has a thing for a 10-year old man child, played by the taser cop from The Hangover. Ed Helms is really funny as a boy band douche/import car salesmen. And Will Ferrell has a pretty entertaining, yet stupid cameo in the movie too.

My advice to you is this, if you are sitting in Blockbuster and The Goods is really the only option, then you should watch it and you'll have a reasonably entertaining evening. But I'd recommend you wait until its on HBO or something and save your 5 bucks.

Ballast - Only for the true indie fan

Ballast is a movie that I would only recommend to a true indie fan. Ballast takes place in the Mississippi Delta and follows the live of three people. After his twin brother commits suicide, Lawrence stops going to work at his convenience store, instead he just sits at home staring at the television, like a zombie. His 12-year-old nephew, James, is in trouble with drug dealers and is desperate to get money to pay them off for the crack he has been smoking. Meanwhile, James's mother, Marlee, is scrubbing toilets to earn whatever she can to afford food and clothing for her son. But when Marlee finds out that her son's life is in danger, they run away to stay with Lawrence. This reunion is not wanted by any party and it triggers long-held memories and problems that slowly boil to the surface. This is set in the Mississippi Delta, and shot on location with nonprofessional actors who live in the region. The dialogue seems mostly improvised, and the director uses only natural sound and light. These all combine to make the audience feel that they are watching the lives of actual real people. It feels like a reality movie with out staged scenes.

Ballast is good in that it is so organic and real. It is good in that you feel like you have been made privy to the stark reality that these people in the Mississippi Delta experience. It is good in that it is incredibly different from most of the movies out there, indie or not.

However, it is slow. There is very little action. The actors are hard to understand. In fact, I had to watch most of the movie with subtitles to understand what was being said. The setting is cold, and rainy, and bleak and the circumstances of all the people are very desperate. That is the reason I suggest that only really big fans of indie films see this one. Its is an emotionally powerful movie, if you can actually get into the story, which isn't exactly easy to do. If you can't get into a story like this, then you will probably think that this is one of the most boring movies ever made. The movie has garnered a lot of critical acclaim which is the reason I rented it to begin with. I am a fan of indie films. I think they are a refreshing departure from all the stuff that is churned out of the big studios, but I had a very difficult time getting into this one. If I hadn't just had some coffee before I watched it, I would have probably fallen asleep multiple time. So, you've been warned kids!

Up - another great Pixar flick

I don't think Pixar has ever made a bad movie. The tradition continues with Up. Up follows Carl, an elderly man, who always dreamed of adventure, but in living life he was never able to make it to his dream place, Paradise Falls. When Carl's wife passes away, and then it looks as though he will lose his beloved home, Carl decides that it is finally time to make the trip to Paradise Falls. Carl decides that he is going to take his home with him, so he uses thousands of helium balloons to take him there. There is a small chink in Carl's chain though---Russell, a well meaning, sweet kid who is kind of a pest to Carl. Russell just happens to be under Carl's porch when Carl and his home "take off." Thus the 2, a curious, innocent boy, and a jaded, heartbroken old man, go on an adventure only Pixar could create.

Whether you like animated films or not, you can not deny that Pixar makes some of the most visually amazing things put on film. Up is no different. The colors are beautiful, the surroundings are ridiculously detailed, and the characters are different from any other film you've ever seen. Apart from the visuals of the film, the story is heartbreaking, thrilling, funny, and heartwarming. Now, some of you may be saying, "Come on! It's a cartoon! It can't be that emotional." And yes, I agree that you would have a point. Animated films may be a little hard to get emotionally involved with because it is so unreal. But the story in Up is so good, you really just can't help but get into the story to that point.

I recommend this movie to everyone. Regardless of whether you like animated films or not, I bet you will (but may never admit out loud) enjoy it. At the very least, you'll be in a better mood after you watched than before. The graphics are just cool; so you'll have fun just looking at all of that. The story is interesting. There is plenty of action. Good things happen to the good people and bad things to the bad people. It is just a great movie, and if you watch it and think it sucks, I think you are either having just a terrible day or you maybe just be a terrible person and you need to reevaluate your approach to life because this is just a totally fun and happy movie.