1. Our Idiot Brother - The film sets up Paul Rudd as the "idiot brother" right from the beginning (he sells weed to a police officer....who is in uniform) - after spending time in jail, he needs a place to stay so he sort of implants himself in the middle of the lives of his 3 sisters (played to perfection by Zooey Deshanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer) all of whom have problems of their own (they just don't know it yet). The story is cute, but ultimately forgettable. I enjoy all of the actors involved, so I was entertained the whole time but the film lacked emotional depth and had a somewhat predictable outcome. I can't say this enough - I am in love with Adam Scott. I think everything he does is hilarious and even when he is not being funny (like in
The Vicious Kind) he still makes me smile.
2. Water for Elephants - I have a lot of problems with this film. First, I am no R.Patz fan...like at all. He lacks charisma, the ability to act and he is not even close to my definition of hot. Second, I don't like watching animals getting tortured (and I am sure not many people do, which is why there was a lack of box office appeal). Third, I felt like it was trying so hard to be an "epic romance" (i.e Jack and Rose from
Titanic) but epic romances don't usually have happy endings. The film would have been light years better if it had ended with him imagining sharing his life with Reese Witherspoon's character but in reality she had died (at the hands of her husband). But I'm a sucker for a good tragedy. Fourth, R.Patz and Reese lack the most important aspect of an epic romance - chemistry and Last, Christopher Waltz was too one-sided as the ultimate bad guy (but he was fantastic at it as usual).
3. 30 Minutes or Less - I just watched this film and I already barely remember it. I remember being disappointed because they showed most of the funny parts in the trailer ( and the trailer wasn't even that funny...) and that Michael Pena was the most interesting part of the film, which is a compliment to him but also an insult to the actual comedic actors in the film like Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. It actually had a good plot which is rare for comedies nowadays but they just did nothing with it. I do love the actress that played the love interest (Dilshad Vadsaria)- she's from the show
Greek and she is absolutely beautiful. That is all I got...
4. Red Riding Hood - I was under the impression that this was a 'modern day' re-telling of the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood" but it wasn't, which was disappointing. Also disappointing was the actual plot - which basically just revolved around guessing the identity of the wolf (if you didn't guess it within the first 1/2 hour there might be something wrong with you). So, the film continues by throwing some twists and turns but ultimately ends the way you expect it to. The film is also a bit of a love story, although the guy that she is in love with is her sisters 1/2 brother which sort of feels like incest to me. I will say that the cinematography and the music were both beautiful.
5. Fright Night - I enjoyed this film more than I was expecting to. I have never seen the original so I can't compare it, but this film felt fresh to me. There are so many vampire tales out right now, but it was nice to watch Colin Farrell remind us that vampires are supposed to scare the shit out of you. The film sort of reminded me of
Disturbia (which is just a re-telling of
Rear Window) since it is about a kid who begins to suspect that his neighbor is a serial killer. But then this film really separated itself by just jumping right into the action - and lots of it. My favorite scene was the beer scene where they are both testing each other to see how much the other knows - it was really well done and intense. Also, great supporting cast - McLovin, Dr. Who and Dave Franco!!! I have to admit that I would have hated the film if I had seen it in 3D in the theaters - You could tell they used the effects for cheesy blood splatter and wooden stakes flying at the audience. It wouldn't have been worth the headache.
6. Midnight in Paris - I knew before I started watching this film that I was going to fall in love with it. Woody Allen should really let his imagination run wild more often if it creates something as inspiring as this film. I wasn't sure how I felt about Allen turning his sights from NYC to Paris but I think he captured the city in a really beautiful way. I have to admit that I have never been fond of Paris but I was 17 at the time of my visit, spent the entire 48 hours drunk and it of course rained the entire time (and not the kind of rain that you would want to walk around in). Incidentally, I did get lost - wandering the streets drunk but unfortunately I did not get picked up by a car that brought me to the 1920's. This is what happens to our main character, Gil - he is brought to the golden era of Paris and meets such artistic icons as Hemingway, Picasso, Dali, Bunuel etc. It was incredibly entertaining and whimsical. I really enjoy films where the guy is the romantic (which I think is more true to life) and Gil's outlook on life was refreshing. It was the perfect contrast to Inez and Paul (who was an "expert" on everything - we all know a guy like this). My favorite quote of the film (and there were many) is the question asked by Inez in response to Gil quitting his job to follow his passion: "
Do you really want to give it all up....just to struggle?". That is the question I ask myself everyday. Even though the last scene was predictable - it still made me smile. I do enjoy a happy ending now and then - it just has to be done to perfection like this film.
1. Our Idiot Brother - The film sets up Paul Rudd as the "idiot brother" right from the beginning (he sells weed to a police officer....who is in uniform) - after spending time in jail, he needs a place to stay so he sort of implants himself in the middle of the lives of his 3 sisters (played to perfection by Zooey Deshanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer) all of whom have problems of their own (they just don't know it yet). The story is cute, but ultimately forgettable. I enjoy all of the actors involved, so I was entertained the whole time but the film lacked emotional depth and had a somewhat predictable outcome. I can't say this enough - I am in love with Adam Scott. I think everything he does is hilarious and even when he is not being funny (like in The Vicious Kind) he still makes me smile. 
2. Water for Elephants - I have a lot of problems with this film. First, I am no R.Patz fan...like at all. He lacks charisma, the ability to act and he is not even close to my definition of hot. Second, I don't like watching animals getting tortured (and I am sure not many people do, which is why there was a lack of box office appeal). Third, I felt like it was trying so hard to be an "epic romance" (i.e Jack and Rose from Titanic) but epic romances don't usually have happy endings. The film would have been light years better if it had ended with him imagining sharing his life with Reese Witherspoon's character but in reality she had died (at the hands of her husband). But I'm a sucker for a good tragedy. Fourth, R.Patz and Reese lack the most important aspect of an epic romance - chemistry and Last, Christopher Waltz was too one-sided as the ultimate bad guy (but he was fantastic at it as usual). 
4. Red Riding Hood - I was under the impression that this was a 'modern day' re-telling of the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood" but it wasn't, which was disappointing. Also disappointing was the actual plot - which basically just revolved around guessing the identity of the wolf (if you didn't guess it within the first 1/2 hour there might be something wrong with you). So, the film continues by throwing some twists and turns but ultimately ends the way you expect it to. The film is also a bit of a love story, although the guy that she is in love with is her sisters 1/2 brother which sort of feels like incest to me. I will say that the cinematography and the music were both beautiful.
5. Fright Night - I enjoyed this film more than I was expecting to. I have never seen the original so I can't compare it, but this film felt fresh to me. There are so many vampire tales out right now, but it was nice to watch Colin Farrell remind us that vampires are supposed to scare the shit out of you. The film sort of reminded me of Disturbia (which is just a re-telling of Rear Window) since it is about a kid who begins to suspect that his neighbor is a serial killer. But then this film really separated itself by just jumping right into the action - and lots of it. My favorite scene was the beer scene where they are both testing each other to see how much the other knows - it was really well done and intense. Also, great supporting cast - McLovin, Dr. Who and Dave Franco!!! I have to admit that I would have hated the film if I had seen it in 3D in the theaters - You could tell they used the effects for cheesy blood splatter and wooden stakes flying at the audience. It wouldn't have been worth the headache.
6. Midnight in Paris - I knew before I started watching this film that I was going to fall in love with it. Woody Allen should really let his imagination run wild more often if it creates something as inspiring as this film. I wasn't sure how I felt about Allen turning his sights from NYC to Paris but I think he captured the city in a really beautiful way. I have to admit that I have never been fond of Paris but I was 17 at the time of my visit, spent the entire 48 hours drunk and it of course rained the entire time (and not the kind of rain that you would want to walk around in). Incidentally, I did get lost - wandering the streets drunk but unfortunately I did not get picked up by a car that brought me to the 1920's. This is what happens to our main character, Gil - he is brought to the golden era of Paris and meets such artistic icons as Hemingway, Picasso, Dali, Bunuel etc. It was incredibly entertaining and whimsical. I really enjoy films where the guy is the romantic (which I think is more true to life) and Gil's outlook on life was refreshing. It was the perfect contrast to Inez and Paul (who was an "expert" on everything - we all know a guy like this). My favorite quote of the film (and there were many) is the question asked by Inez in response to Gil quitting his job to follow his passion: "Do you really want to give it all up....just to struggle?". That is the question I ask myself everyday. Even though the last scene was predictable - it still made me smile. I do enjoy a happy ending now and then - it just has to be done to perfection like this film. 
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