Hot Fuzz

Title: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Action, Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Rating: R
121 minutes

Simon Pegg is funny. Just in general, he is a funny guy. In this movie the uber strict, uber structured London cop, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), gets transferred to a small, supposedly sleepy town, Sandford. The first time he meets his new partner, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the man is sent to sleep off his drunkenness in a cell. Danny constantly questions Angel on his big city lifestyle and sees London as a real-life action movie. The two quickly stumble upon a series of accidents resulting in the deaths of several annoying or unsavory members of the town. The whole movie is a smart and funny satire of action and horror movies.

The duo of Frost and Pegg is gold. Pegg usually plays slackers or over the top characters. Here his character is so stuck in the proper procedures, he is almost boring. His performance is engaging, though the character dull. That may seem counter intuitive, but that is the truth. Although Angel might not be the smartest cop on the force, next to Danny, he seems like a Mensa member. The “odd couple” partners make the extreme aspects of each personality delightful instead of grating. The actors must be comfortable with each other. That is the only way the chemistry and timing can be natural.

This movie also has some of my favorite British actors. Bill Nighy is a London Chief Inspector. Martin Freeman is a sergeant. Jim Broadbent is Danny’s dad and the head inspector in Sandford. Timothy Dalton (not a favorite, but really funny in the movie) is a high honcho in the politics of Sandford.

The script is really well-written and the acting is corny when it needs to be corny and funny. There is a twist that is completely unbelievable, in the sense that it is so unlikely to happen in real life and so ridiculous to become funny. It’s not one where you want to watch every week. It helps if there is some distance between the viewings, but it is definitely worth seeing.

******* 7/10

Mean Girls

Title: Mean Girls (2004)
Director: Mark Waters
Genre: Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Lindsay Lohan
Rating: PG-13
97 minutes

This is the last good movie Lindsay Lohan has made. She plays Cady Heron, an ex-homeschooler who has moved from Africa to someplace outside of Chicago. Her second day of school she meets Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) and is invited to eat lunch with The Plastics, the most popular girls in school. Janis, Damien, and Cady soon create a plan to destroy the head plastic’s life. Cady soon begins to lose herself in the plastic.

Lindsay Lohan really is not the best actress. Despite being the star, she is not the best or funniest or most memorable. The script is so strong that I think practically any actress who is halfway decent could have performed the part well.

Rachel McAdams plays Regina George, the queen of The Plastics. She is phenomenal in the part. There are times where her eyes are so creepy and intense. She is a powerful character and it takes a special actress to play such an unsympathetic character likably. This isn’t to say that the audience feels bad for her, but we like to see Regina George be a bitch. We also like to see her life unravel.

Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried complete the trio of plastics, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith respectively. Gretchen is a sweet girl who just wants so hard to be liked. Some of her deliveries are the best in the whole movie. Karen is remarkably dumb. Seyfried is an example of an actress who can play dumb smartly. There are several times where it is questionable just how she reached high school at all. I would say The Plastics are the most enjoyable thing about the movie.

Lizzy Caplan is also really great as Janis. Regina George basically ruined her life and so her furious quest to destroy her life is understandable. She is both remarkably immature and observant. She can nail the personalities of the people she interacts with to remarkable accuracy.

The script is wonderful. Tina Fey wrote a funny, interesting, and intelligent script. All the characters are well-developed and relatable in some way. I admit that women are going to enjoy the films more than guys and younger more than old, but I think there are elements that can be enjoyed by all. This is a fun and well-crafted movie.

******* 7/10

Roxanne

Title: Roxanne (1987)
Director: Fred Schepisi
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah
Rating: PG
107 minutes

I have mentioned before that I love the story of Cyrano De Bergerac. It is a beautiful tale of real love. Roxanne is the comedic retelling of this old epic. Steve Martin takes the role of Cyrano and turns it into Charlie “C.D.” Bales. Instead of soldier, he is the chief of a fire department full of bumbling volunteers. Daryl Hannah takes the part of Roxanne, C.D.’s love interest. This Roxanne comes to a small town in Washington to follow a comet she discovered. She eventually confides to C.D. that she is attracted to a new firefighter in town named Chris McConnell (Rick Rossovich) instead of the play’s Christian de Neuvillette. He is a bumbling, crude idiot and so to woo the intelligent Roxanne, Chris begs C.D. to use his skills as a wordsmith to help him in his quest.

Steve Martin wrote the script as well as taking the lead role. He is utterly excellent in it. My favorite part is probably when a drunkard in a bar makes fun of C.D.’s nose with the ever original epithet “Big Nose.” C.D. criticizes his lack of originality and bets the drunk that he can come up with as many original insults as the guy can hit on a dart board. He hits 20 and C.D. actually comes up with 25 and Martin delivers each one with personality and conviction. I think that would be a really fun scene to take part in. He is funny and charming and sweet. His acting is more subtle than most of the films he made in the 80’s. Martin really is surprisingly good in more romantic role.

Daryl Hannah is also fairly good as Roxanne. She is an incredibly smart character and Hannah seems to embrace that. When she says that she loves the guy who wrote the letters, it seems believable. She doesn’t just love that this guy is cute. She likes his ability with words and the thoughts he is able to express so beautifully. Her interactions with C.D. before the reveal are still sweet and Hannah seems to have a real connection with Martin.

I hated the actor who played Chris. There is a way to play dumb intelligently and this guy hasn’t mastered it. A great example can be seen in Zoolander by both Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. This guy is so heavy-handed and exaggerated, it actually became annoying to watch. His character was also tragically one-dimensional. With the right actor, he could have been a very fun character.

There were elements of the directing that were quite odd, as well. There were some extreme close-ups that reminded me more of a scene where a character is drunk or stoned, when that had nothing to do with the scene. I also thought that there were some scenes that were too dark and some that were rather bright. I would say the close-ups were rather distracting, though the lighting wasn’t.

The movie is a much lighter version of a great story. It has two great leads and an extraordinarily annoying supporting character. It is a cute rom-com that is actually funny unlike most in the genre. This is also one of the first Steve Martin movies that feels like a complete movie rather than a collection of stand-up bits. Also it can get a bit raunchy. I wouldn’t advise anyone that isn’t double digits to see it.

******* 7/10

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Title: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Director: Wes Anderson
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Lead Actor(s): George Clooney, Meryl Streep
Rating: PG
87 minutes

I love Wes Anderson and Meryl Streep. That being said, this movie didn’t really live up to my expectations. This isn’t to say I didn’t like it; just that I thought it could be better. The movie is based on the book by the same name written by Roald Dahl (which I have always thought was a really cool name). After Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and his family move into a tree, he gets an itch to continue with his old life, stealing. There are three humans who live near the tree named Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Bean (Michael Gambon) that each have a specialty. These humans become obsessed with getting this fox and therefore disrupt the lives of all the animals in the area.

I think my biggest problem was George Clooney. I was always aware that it was Clooney voicing the fox, whereas it was hard to tell that Meryl Streep was his wife or Bill Murray the badger. I also think that Clooney made Mr. Fox a bit too cocky. He obviously needed to be a little cocky, but it stepped over the line into asshole cocky. I did, however, like his fight early in the movie with Badger. I thought it was quite funny.

Meryl Streep was awesome as Mrs. Fox. She was the perfect “great woman behind a good man” character. I was never aware that it was Streep talking and I feel that quality is an important one in this type of film. The same can be said for Jason Schwartzman as their son, Ash. Ash is a fun character who is always described as “different” with these wavy hand motions. Ash was probably my favorite character.

I also liked the way that Wes Anderson allowed the stop motion to be seen on film. One of the people I watched it with asked if it was drawn or they were people in costumes. I also liked the way Anderson introduced the three humans. They were well cast also. The movie was good, but I felt like something was a bit off and it may have just been my dislike of Clooney in the lead role. It is definitely possible for a lead actor to lower the quality of an otherwise great movie.

******* 7/10

Dirty Dancing

Title: Dirty Dancing (1987)
Director: Emile Ardolino
Genre: Romance
Lead Actor(s): Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey
Rating: PG-13
100 minutes

For someone who loves movies, it took me an oddly long time to see this one. I only saw it a year ago as I was packing up my dorm room. I think part of my hesitance stemmed from my confusion over the popularity of the most famous quote. I still don’t really understand why that line in particular caught on. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, it takes place over the summer of 1963 at a summer getaway in the Catskills. A girl everyone calls Baby, though her real name is Francis, (Jennifer Grey) stands in for the dance partner of Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) and they overcome the vast economic differences to fall in love. Yes, that is a very corny two-sentence summary.

Jennifer Grey does quite admirable as Baby. She has fun with the part but is able to handle the more serious bits as well. It is obvious that she enjoyed the people she was working with and just had a good time on the set. Baby also changes quite a bit from the beginning to the end and Grey handles the transition well. Toward the beginning she is an idealistic, well-to-do, daddy’s girl but through her involvement with Johnny and her interactions with Penny Johnson (Cynthia Rhodes), Johnny’s original dance partner who got pregnant and had a back alley abortion, and Robbie Gould (Max Cantor), a ivy league student who after dumping Penny tries to get with Baby’s sister. Grey is just as good as the idealistic Baby, talking about joining the Peace Corp and majoring in the economies of third world country, as she is with the more realistic, yet lighter-spirited end Baby.

Patrick Swayze does great with the dancing and the comedic and romantic parts. He is definitely attractive in the film. The complicated part of his performance is when he gets serious, discussing his life style and his interactions with the guests at the resort. It could be viewed as Swayze being uncomfortable with the more revealing and more dramatic parts of his role or it could be viewed as Swayze showing that Johnny is uncomfortable and unused to someone caring about his life and thus awkward when discussing it. I choose to believe the latter, mainly because it makes the movie better.

I must say I love Jerry Orbach, who plays Baby’s father, Dr. Houseman. I love Orbach anytime though. He plays Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast for those who didn’t know. He helps Penny after the awful abortion and at the same time, loses his conception of his perfect daughter.

This movie is a different type of classic. It so defines a generation, despite being set before most of that generation was born. It doesn’t have utterly astounding acting or directing or even a profoundly original screenplay. It is a classic because of the feeling it gives those who watch it. Again it is more of a girl movie than a guy one, but that doesn’t mean that men should be discouraged from watching it. I think there are elements both sexes can enjoy. It is a fun movie with a very good soundtrack and is just as enjoyable 23 years.

******* 7/10

Billy Elliot

Title: Billy Elliot (2000)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Genre: Drama
Lead Actor(s): Jamie Bell
Rating: R
110 minutes

I saw this on Broadway while I was in New York and I have to say, the musical is better. The movie is good and the plot lines are essentially the same. The movie is set during the 1984 miners strike in England and follows a young boy, Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), who stays behind after a boxing lesson and accidentally attends a ballet lesson and falls in love with. Growing up in a mining community, boys don’t do ballet. Billy is torn between this thing that helps his soul soar and the expectations of his family.

Although I have to say, I prefer the Billy I saw in New York (Liam Redhead), Bell does quite well with the role and brings an impressive amount of maturity to the role, especially during the riot scene and the aftermath. He is also very good at the dancing and he is able to be weaker at the beginning as he is just learning but the music seems to flow through him as the movie progresses.

Julie Walters is a wonderful actress and portrays Billy’s Ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson. The role could have been rather stage-mom-ish, but Walters restrains it so Wilkinson seems to really only care about Willy’s success and well-being. She smokes like a chimney, but Walters is able to keep up and stay energetic with Billy when teaching him. She also has a great energy that allows her to both be caring and still have that cavalier sort of personality.

I can see how Elton John saw a musical in this. Without having that aspect, Stephen Daldry basically directed a musical. The movie has great musicality with very little music. He knows how to use the camera and direct the actors in such a wonderful way. He is a wonderful director that shows the most amazing promise that develops in his later movies.

Billy Elliot is a very good movie that shows great acceptance of the characters and situations. Although not perfect, it tells an interesting story in a caring manner and shows the promise.

******* 7/10

Monsters Inc.

Title: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Director: Pete Doctor, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich
Genre: Animated, Adventure
Lead Actor(s): John Goodman, Billy Crystal
Rating: G
92 minutes

This is not my favorite Pixar movie, although overall I think it is one of, if not the, most creative of the films. As hinted at by the title, the film is set around a company of monsters who power their city on the screams of children. That sounds a bit barbaric and it could have been. Instead it was remarkable. The stars are a “scarer” named Sulley (John Goodman) and his helper, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). Their lives are turned upside down when a child, Boo (Mary Gibbs), accidentally makes it on the factory floor.

John Goodman was the perfect casting for Sulley. He has the ability to be scary and also has a teddy bear quality he can turn on instantly. Obviously the hero of a Pixar movie can’t be a monster too scary, but have the ability to be the top “scarer.” Goodman also has to be the logical part of the pair while living in a rather illogical world.

I don’t feel really anything about Billy Crystal’s performance. He does a fine job, but considering the actor, I would have expected more. My favorite performance is that of Bob Peterson as the secretary Roz. He is utterly hilarious in the role. Her droning method of speaking coupled with the very nasal voice is magnificent. She also is one of the scarier monsters in the monster world. She certainly scares Mike the most. Another honorable mention is the wonderful John Ratzenberger as the Abominable Snowman. He has appeared in every Pixar movie and beside his role as P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life, this is my favorite performance of his in a movie. He is sweet and adorable as the Abominable Snowman.

The imaginations that created this world and the vast variety of monsters that inhabit are enviable. The different furs, limbs, scales, voices, etc. are so unique and each monster has his or her personality. The thought that went into the development of this reality makes the backgrounds great. If Mike had been better cast, this movie as a whole might have been great. It is, however, very good and enjoyable for both kids and adults.

******* 7/10

Zombieland

Sorry about my lack of update the past two days. I went camping-ish.

Title: Zombieland (2009)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Lead Actor(s): Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson
Rating: R
88 minutes

For some reason zombie movies are the horror movies most likely to be parodied. I am not quite sure what lends the walking dead to comedy, but some of them have been quite funny. After Shaun of the Dead, I would suggest that this is one of the best zombie comedies. Mad Cow Disease somehow turns into a zombie-making disease and it appears that all but 4 people have succumbed to the disease. A geeky boy going by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a twinkie-crazed hillbilly nicknamed Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), and two sisters going by Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) are the only apparent survivors, but are headed to the mystical Pacific Playland, an amusement park rumored to be zombie-free.

I feel no real connection to the lead actor, but I do like his rules for surviving; I just wish we had heard more of them than just the 10 in the movie. The character that really makes this movie is Tallahassee. He is utterly hilarious and a total zombie killing machine. A man who is ferociously obsessed with finding a Twinkie before they all go bad (because they do have an expiration date) doesn’t have to do much to be oddly funny, but Harrelson really delivers in the role. His high kicks and deadly banjo really help round out the character, but it wouldn’t be the same without Harrelson’s attitude.

The cameo by Bill Murray is absolutely hilarious. I don’t want to give too many descriptions because part of the funniness is the surprise, but I would watch the movie only for his scene. The opening credits are probably some of the goriest that I have ever seen, but the situations in them and the way they are shot are the perfect opening for the movie and really set the stage. My favorite clip is probably the stripper zombie chasing her fat costumer. The most disgusting part is probably when Columbus’s neighbor turns zombie.

This is a very fun zombie comedy. I wouldn’t say that it is better than Shaun of the Dead or a great piece of cinema, but it is a fun, sometimes disgusting movie with a nice performance by Woody Harrelson.

******* 7/10

I Heart Huckabees

Today an atrocious article came to my knowledge. It was published in Newsweek on April 26, 2010 and written by Ramin Setoodeh. It is called “Straight Jacket” and it claims that homosexual actors are incapable of convincingly playing heterosexual actors. It is pure homophobic dribble and it infuriates me. Kristin Chenowith wrote a wonderful response here. In honor of the idiocy of this article, I decided to write about a movie that features one of the homosexual actors who wonderfully portrays a heterosexual actor, Lily Tomlin.

Title: I Heart Huckabees (2004)
Director: David O. Russell
Genre: Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin
Rating: R
107 minutes

This will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It is a weird movie. The quick and dirty summary is Albert (Jason Schwartzman) is the leader of a group fighting against the installation of a Huckabees store (similar to walmart). He is displaced by a mole from Huckabees, Brad (Jude Law). Albert hires two detectives (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) who call themselves existential detectives. When Albert becomes unsatisfied with the husband and wife team, he hires an ex-pupil and now rival, Caterine (Isabelle Huppert).

Jason Schwartzman always does well in these kinds of roles. He is at his best when he is playing an extremely awkward character and this is no exception. Jude Law is also quite good as the egotistical Brad. Law is also extremely good at playing cocky assholes. Dustin Hoffman is an extraordinary and diverse actor, but I always love him in his comedic roles. He has surprisingly good comedic timing.

Now for Lily Tomlin, I love her. I think she is a sharp and intelligent actress. I also find her and Hoffman’s interactions and relationships completely believable. The characters seem to truly care for each other and she has such a wonderful energy about her character. I never find her to be phoning it in or inauthentic. She also has great comedic timing and just a fantastic presence. Her character, Vivian, is the kind of old lady that I would love to grow up into.

The direction and writing is very loose and improvisational. It really lends to the realistically absurd nature of the film. The movie also makes some interesting comments on religion, reality, and commercialism.

As I said this is a weird movie and I know that not everyone will enjoy. Although it is hard to watch when not paying attention, it can be an interesting and entertaining if you have the patience and interest.

******* 7/10

(500) Days of Summer

Sorry about the lack of update on Friday I was driving all Thursday and just couldn’t work up the energy to update

Title: (500) Days of Summer (2009)
Director: Marc Webb
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
Rating: PG-13
95 minutes

I really like this movie until the end and it isn’t because of what most people don’t like in the end. Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a classic romantic who constantly dreams of “the one.” He thinks he has met it in Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). Unfortunately Summer does not share the same romantic ideology. Despite this the two start dating and the movie depicts their relationship in a non-chronological manner.

I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I think he is a wonderful actor. I especially liked him in Brick. He is able to display he comedic and well-rounded nature as an actor in the movie. My favorite scene is a fantasy sequence after he sleeps with Summer for the first time. His image is of Han Solo when he looks in a car window. Little cartoon birds fly around his head and the people on the street perform very complex choreography along with him. He seems to really enjoy the part even when Tom is miserable and heart-broken.

I also love Zooey Deschanel. First of all, she has a seriously kick-ass name. Second of all, she just seems like she would be a cool person to hang out with. She had a difficult role because she has to make the audience hate her enough that they aren’t disappointed when the relationship doesn’t work out, but not so much that they can’t see what Tom saw in her. I think she performs the role quite well. She also seems to fit so perfectly into the role.

I like the direction a lot. The director really thought about the color schemes and the personalities of the characters when dressing the sets. I also like the narration and the way the camera moves in the emotionally intimate scenes. I especially like the way the director handles the non-linear format of the script. In terms of direction, my favorite scene is when Tom goes to a party at Summer’s house.

Tom’s friends and sister are well cast. Chloe Grace Moretz is cast as his sister and again seems extremely wise beyond her years. This actress will be around for a while. Tom is in the middle of the dating spectrum between Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler), a person who found his soul mate in 1997 and married her, and McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend), a man who hasn’t had a relationship since the 7th grade.

I loved the screenplay until the end. The end is what kills the movie in my opinion. I don’t mind that they don’t end up together, in fact I like that. The last scene is so hideously corny that I am fully convinced it is what caused the screenplay not to be nominated for an Oscar. I am not going to give the end away and it does not stop me from watching the movie, but I would have enjoyed the movie so much more if it had stopped earlier or somehow changed the last scene. Until then the screenplay is one of the best of 2009.

This is definitely not one of the dreaded cookie-cutter romantic comedies that I despise. It has a wonderful uniqueness and quirkiness that is kind of reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If it had a slightly stronger ending, it would be rated much higher. I definitely would recommend seeing it once for a unique and different type of romantic comedy.

******* 7/10