Fall 2010 Film Reviews I

Gone Baby Gone (2007): B+
About a murder of a child in Boston. Exciting but maybe a little to dark and there are quite a few surprise plot twists and eventually gets a little bit unbelievable. Casey Affleck is convincing as the protagonist and the film is solid.

Religulous (2008): B
Bill Maher's take down (or attempted take down) of organized religion. The documentary is humorous and makes many reasonable points. Maher is harsh in his descriptions of Judaism and Christianity but seems to back down a little bit when it comes to Islam (maybe out of fear of retribution). Also the experts he interviews are really for the most parts just stupid and crazy people - it would have been more convincing and honest if he had talked to experts in the field.

Boy A (2007): A-
Excellent film that looks into the life of a released child murderer (a child that killed someone - not a murderer of a child). The main character of the film has been in prison since he was ten and is released back into society when he is in his early twenties. Andrew Garfield (who is going to be the new Spiderman) is absolutely phenomenal and the movie is really depressing. Would have been an "A" if not for some unneeded (and distracting) side stories not related to the main plot.

Summer 2010 Film Reviews III

Frost/Nixon (2008): B-
Not as good as the hype for the film would suggest but still watchable and somewhat interesting. Maybe it was because I'm not from the 70s and couldn't relate but the film was a bit overdramatic. Michael Sheen (Sheen was amazing this year on 30 Rock playing a weird goofy guy so watching this was a bit hard as the characters are near opposites) was solid and was the guy who played Nixon did a convincing job.

Children of Men (2006): A-
There are gritty and dark films and then there is Children of Men. The film is so dark, depressing, and gloomy but is also terrifying because the future that the film documents is completely believable. The fight scenes in the film were actually terrifying and I enjoyed the ambiguous nature of the ending

Summer 2010 Film Reviews II

Inception (2010): A
Took me two viewing to fully understand and enjoy but was an awesome experience to sit through. The writing is terrific and the acting is excellent as well. Leonardo DiCaprio as usual was excellent, and Joseph Gordon Levitt was great too. I want to believe that the entire movie wasn't a dream but the Dom characters kids wearing the exact same clothes and being the exact same age makes it kind of apparent that the ending was a dream.

Iron Man 2 (2010): B
The tone was light and the film balanced the action with humor. Certain things in the movie were a bit unbelievable like a secretary becoming the head of a company, but Robert Downey Jr plays the role of the selfish man-child hero so well that the film is still enjoyable even through its Transformers levels of meaningless things blowing up. The actor who plays the competing inventor/businessman was also terrific and really saved the film.

Summer 2010 Film Reviews I

Extract (2009): B
Really quite funny but not over the top or crass. Jason Bateman is terrific in his typical straight-man role. Ben Affleck is also solid in a supporting role. The film was never hilarious but the characters were fleshed out fairly well and moved along without being excessively dull

Date Night (2010): C+
This should have been funnier considering the quality of actors in the film (Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, and a lot more people in minor roles). There were times when the film was funny but overall it was pretty disappointing and had an unnecessarily convoluted plot. Mark Wahlberg was funny in his supporting role and the guy who plays Leon on Curb Your Enthusiasm was amazing in his like three minutes of screen time.