“Time to nut up or shut up!” — Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee in Zombieland (2009).
If you think I’ve been posting a lot of DVD reviews lately, you’re right. I’m doubling the frequency of DVD review posts in an effort to catch up with movies I’ve watched, cataloged, and previously reviewed on Facebook. Trouble is, I keep watching movies, and the backlog keeps growing!
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Trainspotting (1996) I’m coming to Trainspotting 14 years late. Does it stand the test of time? Christ, does it ever. An early scene (“Worst Toilet in Scotland”) drove my wife from the room, but I recognized it as metaphor, stuck it out, and was shortly thereafter rewarded with the scene where the junkie mother discovers her neglected baby dead in its crib. I am not saying this is an easy movie to watch — it isn’t. But it’s not entirely a descent into despair either — for all the parts that will make you cringe, other parts will make you laugh. This movie has power — you’ll never forget it. |
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Shrink (2009) Kevin Spacey is very good, but the movie is derivative (they’re still trying to cash in on Crash, imagine that), and the happy ending, where every character’s problems are upliftingly resolved (well, except for Kevin Spacey’s dog), is actually kind of sappy. |
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The Hangover (2009) Why did I like this movie? I hate movies about boys behaving badly. I hated Jackass; I hated Borat. I fully expected to hate The Hangover. But I didn’t. I laughed. I worried about the guys’ missing friend. I wanted Phil to get out of his relationship with that awful woman. I badly wanted to find out how the tiger got into the hotel suite. And oh by the way I watched the unrated version, the one with plenty of T&A, the one most likely to appeal to Jackass & Borat fans. I think the difference is in the movie’s approach to calamity. Where Jackass and Borat present calamity — people experiencing sudden & great physical or emotional shock — merely for laughs, The Hangover takes a more empathetic approach. You care about the characters. This is a surprisingly good movie, and the slide show at the end is worth the wait. |
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Last Chance Harvey (2008) Meh. You know, if movie producers had a bit of nerve, they’d choose non-beautiful, unknown, unsexy actors to play middle-aged unsexy people. Instead they give us Dustin Hoffman, whom I assume any number of women would do, and Emma Thompson, whom any number of men would definitely do, and we’re supposed to pretend they’re middle-aged unsexy people. This forgettable movie reminded me of that other middle-aged romance where Carol Burnett and Alan Alda got it on. As in, big whoop. |
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The Blind Side (2009) A superficial feel-good movie with all the standard superficial feel-good tricks — the struggle to overcome a horrific childhood and lack of education made to look like a breeze, accomplished in two or three short scenes; a hulking teenager from the ghetto with absolutely no bad habits, social and legal obstacles easily vaulted — if you didn’t know the script was based on a true story you simply wouldn’t believe it. But I’ll tell you what, Sandra Bullock carries the whole damn thing, and she is a marvel. I loved this movie, and I love Sandra Bullock. |
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Gentlemen Broncos (2009) This is a silly movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There’ve been a lot of sci-fi geek movies, but this one is original and interesting. One reviewer said the director, Jared Hess, is a cross between Wes Anderson and John Waters, and I think that’s right on. It probably helps if you’re a bit of a sci-fi geek yourself, and a fan of MST3K-style cheesy movies. I am both, and I got a kick out of Gentlemen Broncos. |
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The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) Frankly, I was disappointed the movie added nothing to the book. People often complain movies are not like the books they’re based on, but in this case I thought it was faithful almost to a fault . . . it really isn’t much more than a Classics Illustrated version for lazy people who can’t be bothered to read. Funny, though, I don’t remember the book being quite as dull and depressing as the movie, so maybe there are differences after all. But here’s my real problem: time travel is not a subject for romance, it’s a subject for science fiction. |
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2012 (2009) Mega disaster porn from start to finish, with last-second cliffhanger after last-second cliffhanger, often with a countdown clock running. Even as you know John Cusak will live, you involuntarily scoot forward in your seat as the goddamn clock clicks down to zero . . . enervating entertainment. The best thing about the movie is Woody Harrelson. |
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Couples Retreat (2009) Predictable and sappy, but the actors are engaging and the scenery delightful. Sexual innuendo and dry humpage run rampant throughout, inducing a few guffaws . . . so if you take PG-13 to mean “family fun,” you might want to reread the definition. |
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Zombieland (2009) One of the better “fun” zombie movies I’ve seen. It put me very much in mind of Night of the Comet, an excellent 1980s movie about young folks surviving in a devastated and depopulated world. Same idea . . . only with zombies, you have to be on your toes every second of the day. The opening slo-mo scenes are worth the price of admission alone, and Bill Murray was a pleasant surprise. |