Since there are no good films in the theater - I have had a lot of time on my hands to catch up on some films I missed from last year. Here are some quick thoughts on the dvd's that I watched recently:
1. Law Abiding Citizen - Gerard Butler is a joy to watch. So is watching a film with one of my favorite cities as a back drop (Philly). I was surprisingly invested in the film for its entirety, but I have to admit the plot was way over the top insane. I don't think it is very realistic or believable that a person would seek revenge for the murder of his wife and daughter by killing a bunch of innocent people - all in the name of justice?.
2. Cold Souls - I was super excited for this film- finally an original idea!! With Paul Giamatti! I don't understand how they could ruin it...but they did. The film is said to be Charlie Kaufman-esque, but I don't think it was clever, captivating or complicated enough for such a comparison.
3. Bright Star - Boooooring! And Abbie Cornish? Blaaaaand. (I admit, I am a bit biased against her - she was dating my boyfriend Ryan Phillippe. But still - I don't think her performance was award worthy at all).
4. The Stepfather - New drinking game! Take a drink every time Penn is shirtless. You would die of alcohol poisoning. The problem is that Penn is not hot and the film is laughable (and not in an intentional way). It just reminded me how great Disturbia is - because this film is basically the same, yet this fails miserably. I haven't seen the original but I am excited to see it once I realized John Locke is in it - I bet he is much scarier than the guy from Nip/Tuck.
5. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men - I was intrigued by this film - written and directed by John Krasinski (yes, that John Krasinski - weird I know) and has one of my favorite television actresses, Julianne Nicholson in it. I have to say, the film is....interesting. I think it would be better as a play - there are a lot of long monologues that get lost in a film medium. It looks at the women's movement through a man's eye, but it also looks at love as a grey area (instead of the usual black and white). My favorite part is the idea that a tragic event can in fact improve your life (in the long run) which is a beautiful and inspiring idea. Kudos to John for creating a film that is thought-provoking.
6. Paranormal Activity - I am fascinated by this film - not the actual film, but the hype surrounding it. When I saw this trailer in the theater, I was laughing while everyone else was thrilled. On opening day, the line that formed at my local theater was outrageous. Even more outrageous were the mostly positive reviews and the ridiculous amount of money the film made. I finally forced myself to watch it - and was not surprised that it sucked like I knew it would. I will admit that I was surprised by the acting talent, but overall the film was only minorly creepy - not scary at all. I am also not sure why it received an "R" rating - it didn't have any violence or sex, just a few unnecessary curse words.
7. 2012 - Some adjectives to describe this film: cheesy, ridiculous, impossible, absurd, trashy. I mean they actually had the characters outrun an earthquake! Come on. I enjoy a good disaster flick once in a while, but this one was just a waste of the millions of dollars it cost to make it. I understand that the effects were probably much better on a big screen, but on my t.v they looked terrible. I don't believe in the whole "2012" theory and this film did not do a good job in convincing me. I also would never want to be one of the few that survived such a disaster - having all of your friends and family dead. I feel that the biggest mistake this film had was not having characters that you actually care about (like Will Smith & Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day).
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