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Showing posts from February, 2012

Short Movie Reviews: Featuring good actors in crappy movies

Last Day Of Summer : It's not a bad plot; a young man who was mistreated at work, and in life, it seems, plans to shoot-out his former place of employment. He buys the gun, walks into the dumpy diner, fantasizes about shooting everyone dead, and is close to actually doing it. Then he sees a purdy young woman, Nikki Reed, whom I like in this, and they exchange "a look", and thus his plans completely change. He follows her out of the diner, asks her out, and...gets rejected. Already in a messed up state of mind, he kidnaps her. There's too much toilet humor, for one, and it isn't really funny when it tries to be. I suppose my main problem is that it fails to be truly gripping, despite the good plot. It has some worthy moments, however, and you can always watch it simply for the core issue. Maybe if some bullies watched this, they'd think twice about being such a-holes...yeah, they'd probably still be a-holes. My grade: C+ Watching the Detectives : 

Quick Movie Review: The Artist

Wow, I've actually seen two movies up for Oscars this years. That's just unheard of. For the most part, "The Artist" is a very decent film with a good, charming cast. It's s cute story, and very nostalgic, but it gets bogged down a bit with George's depression and downward spiral. If they had cut some of that and added more of the charm and optimism that it had in the beginning, it would have been better off. My grade: B

Downton Abbey: Season 2- Season Finale/Christmas Episode

*Spoilers* Well, this certainly ended on a happy note! Mostly, that is. Bates' life was spared, but he was still sentenced to life in prison. I imagine they'll fix that next season, however. I took that weird scene with Anna and Daisy at the Ouija board to be a direct hint at a resolution to the Bates dilemma. Heck, maybe it even had something to do with Daisy's future happiness. That was a little silly, wasn't it? Also, am I the only one who isn't a big Bates fan? He's alright, sure, but I never liked him a great deal. I suppose it's the way he's written, and all the self-sacrificing he's made to do, like a martyr. Ugh. And perhaps Brendan Coyle isn't the best actor. I first saw him in "North and South" a couple of years ago. I should re-watch that and have another look. Mary finally got rid of Richard at the urging of Matthew and her father. Everyone was against the marriage, it seemed, and once Cora revealed Mary's &

Movie Review: The Descendants

It's such a lovely thing that you can almost always depend on a George Clooney movie to be good. Not that all of his movies have been winners, but many of them have been safe bets. "The Descendants" is no exception. It's a pleasant mixture of drama and humor, not to mention good acting, which is nice considering all of the mediocre/bad acting I've been witnessing in movies. Clooney plays Matt King, the descendant of Hawaiian royalty (I bet you can relate to that, am I right?), whose wife is in a coma after a boating accident. They have two daughters, Scottie, a young troublemaker, and Alexandra, a rebellious teen with issues, one of them being her mother. After learning that his wife isn't going to recover after all, Matt brings Alex home from boarding school, trying to prepare everyone for the upcoming tragedy. What he doesn't expect is Alex's revelation that her mother was having an affair. I like what they did with this story. Instead of simply

Downton Abbey: Season 2- Episode 6

*Spoilers* This really is a ridiculous season. I have to say it. I know it's a "soap", but jeez. Granted, there are interesting characters and dilemmas, but they're not put to the best use. Alright, so there's one episode left of season 2, so a lot happened in this almost 2-hour episode. The Spanish Flu hit Downton, placing Cora, Carson, and Lavinia in peril. For awhile there it appeared that Cora was going to kick the bucket, but alas, she made it through. Carson never seemed to be in much danger, and Lavinia had a deceptive recovery that later turned into her death. Sybil decided to run away with Branson, but she didn't get far before her sisters found them. Determined to have her way, she refused let Branson go. Therefore she's going to live in Dublin (woot!), where Branson has a job as a journalist. And of course they'll marry. Lord Grantham is ticked off, pretty much saying he's going to disown her if she goes, and that she'll

Movie Review: The Woman In Black

You know me and my scary movies. I had to see this, plus Daniel Radcliffe stars in it, and I was curious to see how he fared outside of Harry Potter. I hate to say it, but I'm not overly impressed with him. I never have been. I do like him, though, and he wasn't terrible as Arthur Kipps, he was just...average. He has yet to master acting, and maybe he never will. For now he's an "okay" actor, but a likable okay actor. The likable part is important. Basic plot: A young lawyer comes to some depressing town and makes the mistake of seeing "the woman in black", a right biatch who preys on children. Thus many children die in rather horrible ways. Unfortunately, Arthur's son and nanny are due to arrive there later in the week. Nooo, not the son! Arthur is a widower, by the way, as we see in flashbacks. It's creepy enough. The setting seems thorough and authentic, which makes for a good backdrop to a horror film. The scares weren't as good

Downton Abbey: Season 2- Episode 5

*Spoilers* We're really getting down to it now. There are only two episodes left after this. Excited? Personally, I have lukewarm feelings about it. The biggest shocker was the so-called return of Patrick Crawley, the supposedly dead Crawley heir who died on the Titanic six years previous. Now he's a Canadian soldier with severe burns to his face, which conveniently make him difficult if not impossible to identify. He also claims to have had amnesia until recently. Yeah, I don't believe it, either, but Edith, the typical middle child, does. It doesn't help that he seems to desperately want that inheritance. He also has crazy eyes, and lord, he's terribly annoying! I don't know what they plan to do with that character. Hopefully they'll reveal him to be a fraud (that's certainly what it looks like) and that'll be that. I have to say, they haven't had good storylines for Edith this season. They always give her crappy stories. I mean reall