Love Happens

A man who has made a career out of helping others grieve the loss of loved ones finds out that perhaps he has some work to do of his own to mourn the passing of his wife.  With the help of a woman he just happens to meet in Seattle he is pushed to confront his own issues and is surprised to find that he might even be falling in love.

• This movie was pretty good.  There isn't much else to say.  I enjoyed watching it and found it to be......pretty good.
• I like Jennifer Anniston.  This movie just sort of ......happened.  There just really isn't much else to say on this one.

3 STARS

Hot Tub Time Machine

Starring:  John Cusak, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke
2010, Comedy  (Rated R)

Three men in various stages of mid life crisis like experiences at home head out to their old favorite resort ski town after one of them has an apparent suicide attempt.  Adam (Cusak) takes along his younger brother Jacob who normally stays holed up in his basement playing video games and off they go to have some fun, relaxation and hopefully re kindle their spark.  After partying all night in a hot tub they emerge to find that they have gone back in time and anxiously try to figure out how to fix the situation so as not to do more damage to their present life while visiting their past.

• This movie was funny and had some stupid silly moments.
• My favorite part was actually the ending.  It was unexpected and I think it really made the move.

3 STARS

The Wolfman

Starring:  Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins
Sci Fi/Fantasy, 2010 (Rated R)

An actor (Del Toro) returns home after being told that his brother is missing.  He arrives home to find his brother has been found dead and the town is in an uproar and on the hunt for the vicious creature they believe is responsible for his and other murders.  He finds himself the target of the hunt after being bitten by a werewolf himself.  He finds out some terrible family secrets as he tries to avenge his brothers death as promised to his brother's wife Gwen (Blunt).

• The lighting in this movie is horribly dark.  I get it that it is supposed to be ominous and scary but I could hardly see what was happening on the screen.
• This movie is not as good as I expected it to be.  It was just OK and hardly even held my attention throughout. 

3 STARS

Legion

Starring:  Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki
Mystery, Suspense, 2010 (Rated R)

A group of people at a remote desert diner find themselves in a fight for their lives as they battle those sent from up above intent on destroying human kind.

• This movie was just OK for me and not nearly as good as I was anticipating. 
• This whole thing about the fate of the world and human kind resting on an unborn child is so unoriginal which is fine, however I don't feel they brought enough of anything new to the table to make it fresh.
• Definitely entertaining but did not blow me away at all.

3 STARS

When In Rome

Starring:  Kristin Bell, Josh Duhamel
Romantic Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

Kristen Bell stars as Beth, an unlucky in love workaholic curator at a New York Museum.  Her younger sister meets an Italian man and plans a wedding in Italy all in two weeks causing this all about business gal to head to the romantic city of Rome where she promptly ignores the scenery and clutches her cell phone to try to call work.  She meets Nick at the wedding and starts to feel a little hopeful but when even he appears to be a disappointment she drunkenly stumbles into the fountain and cynically plucks out 5 coins.  If love really does exist it certainly doesn't come from a fountain.  Next thing she knows she is being pursued by 5 smitten suitors including Nick.  Will she finally get the man of her dreams and her happy ending or is he just under a spell?

• This movie was cute and entertaining.  It followed a lot of the typical cliches that many romantic comedies do but there is a reason for that.  We like it!
• There were very funny moments throughout and it really was a fun and funny story line.
• Who knew when we saw Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars so many years ago that she would turn out to be such a wonderful comedic actress.

3 STARS

Crazy On The Outside

Starring:  Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ray Liotta
Comedy, 2010 (Rated PG 13)

Tim Allen plays Tommy who is fresh out of prison and looking to make a new start that does not involve crime.  He moves in with his pathological lying yet extremely caring sister, reports to his probation officer, and gets a job in a fast food joint.  Trouble tries to find him by way of his old buddy Gray (Liotta) and he does a good job of resisting until he becomes frustrated when his cagey past continues to follow him and ruins his fledgling romance with his attractive probation officer.  Can he stay on the straight, narrow and continue the struggle to play it straight or will the lure and the money of his old way of life call him back.

• I'd never heard of this one but it was pretty funny from start to finish.  Tim Allen is great as a not so rough and tough ex con and Sigourney Weaver does a great job playing the role of his protective tough yet sensitive older sister.
• There are funny moments throughout the film and it leans toward a somewhat cliche story line but it's a light hearted comedy so not only did I expect that but it was done well enough that I also enjoyed it.

3 STARS

Valentine's Day

Starring:  Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Emma Roberts, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher...to name a few.
Romantic Comedy, 2010

A series of interwoven stories plays out on Valentine's Day.  This day means something different to everyone.  There are affairs, new love, lonely hearts, and broken hearts as everyone attempts to find their way on Valentine's Day.

• This is a classic case of a movie that tried way too hard to be good. 
• I'm not going to say it was bad but it really just didn't "Do" anything for me.  The characters were mostly shallow and one dimensional.  I found that I really didn't connect or care all too much about what happened to any of them.
• I did like the way the stories wove together in unexpected ways but other then that this movie just sort of fell flat for me.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  There was just something missing.
• You certainly can't criticize the cast.  That's for sure.  With an all star cast of a huge variety of established and new actors there was likely a favorite in there for everyone.
• It was nice to see Taylor Swift take her first stab at acting.  She played the ditz and I don't know if was because the movie itself was so flat to me but her acting kind of felt that way too. 

3 Stars

Tenure

Starring: Owen Wilson, Gretchen Mol
Comedy, Rated R

An off beat college professor names Larry is up for tenure and just can't seem to get it together. His students love him but he is not well liked by his colleagues, has a tendency towards bizarre behavior, and associates with the only other professor considered more of a black sheep then he is. A new pretty faculty member from a prestigious University who is said to be on "tenure track" makes him feel even more threatened. Can he get an article published and clean up his act well enough to receive this coveted tenure that eluded him at the previous college he worked for and make his retired professor father proud.

• This movie was funny and entertaining.
• The antics of his crazy colleague and his pursuit of big foot and the other various quirky faculty members and students throughout the film are hilarious.
• It has a cute little love story brewing under the surface as well and I really liked watching the relationship between Larry and his dad evolve.

3 STARS

Gamer

Starring: Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta, Kyra Sedgwick, Alison Lohman
Sci Fi, Fantasy, Myster/Suspense (Rated R)

In this futuristic film the prison system is funded by a game that blurs the lines between reality and video games in which death row inmates can opt to allow themselves to be controlled by players in an actual video game where the blood and guts are real. If they manage to survive 30 games they earn their stay of execution. Butler plays Kable. A video game character/person who has managed to come closer to surviving 30 games then anyone. The world watches as he fights for his life and his freedom. There is a sect of people however, who believe that the creator of this so called game is bent on taking over the world and use Kable as a way to try to stop him.

• Very interesting movie concept. I liked it.
• I cannot even imagine a world where average people can pay to control or be controlled in such a way.
• We get to watch Amber Valletta run around in underwear for the last half of the movie
• It was totally unrealistic but it wasn't meant to be.
• Butler once again delivers a great gritty performance with his muscles on full display.
• I was a bit surprised to see Allison Lohman in this (Drag Me To Hell, White Oleander). It was kind of like seeing Dakota Fanning in Push. She has such a great reputation as an actress that it hardly matters but it was kind of a small role and didn't allow her to show of her acting chops so much.

3 STARS

The Girl In The Park

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth, Keri Russell
Drama, 2007

The young daughter of Julia (Weaver) and her husband disappears from the park one day. After such a terrible loss Julia sort of checks out of life and never quite recovers. One day she meets a homeless young girl names Louise (Bosworth) and she forms an emotional attachment to her. She finds herself fixating on Louise and blurring the lines between her long disappeared daughter and this troubled young girl.

• I liked this movie.
• It didn't have a real plot or story line but I found it very interesting and enjoyed watching what unfolded.
• If you want action you will not find it here. It just isn't that type of movie.
• Great interesting characters and wonderful acting to go along with it.
• The hubby was on the internet during most of the movie but I was interested enough to focus on it.

3 STARS

The Surrogates

Starring: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell

Sci Fi, 2009 (Rated PG-13)

Welcome to the future where humans can't be bothered to actually live their own lives risking injury or death and instead send surrogates out into the world who are genetically engineered to look perfect while they sit at home hooked up to a chair. The world is divided by those who use surrogates and those who don't. When a high profile "operator" ends up dying when his surrogate is struck by a car FBI agent Greer must find out why.

• I have to be honest and I say that while I loved this story line and concept for a movie I kind of have no idea what the heck happened.
• I have a tendency to get lost in moves with super intricate plots and that's exactly what happened here.
• I love the concept though. Imagine a world where you could physically be anybody you want to. Everyone was perfect, young and beautiful because that's what they wanted to be.

3 Stars

The Invention Of Lying

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner
Comedy, 2009 (PG13)

Imagine a world where people do not lie. Everything anyone says is taken as fact and nobody even bothers with little white lies that spare peoples feeling or keep things polite. Well, this movie does just that. Mark (Gervais) discovers one day that he can lie-although he doesn't even have a word to describe it. Suddenly his life changes as he realizes the power of telling lies especially in a world where others don't. He gets everything he wants except Anna (Garner) the girl of his dreams. Can he convince her that despite his plain exterior that he is the man of hers?

• This movie is actually quite funny and entertaining. It does have some slow moments but overall I really liked it because it was so unique.
• I am immediately annoyed by Anna because she is so incredibly shallow and vain. But really aren't we all in at least some small way? Just not in such an "in your face" kind of way.
• It confronts the concept of physical beauty and success or lack thereof in a head on no apologies kind of way. Often it's what people are thinking but no one dares to speak out loud.
• When a perfect stranger in this town asks you how you are doing it's ok to say you hate your life and you think that they are ugly. Somehow I found the thought of not having to say that you are fine if you aren't just to make polite conversation. On the other hand....do you really want people to know all of that information about you?

3 STARS

Post Grad

Starring: Alexis Bledel, Zach Gilford

Comedy (2009), Rated PG 13

Ryden (Bledel) is a recent college grad who has pretty much had her life mapped out since day 1 of high school. When she doesn't land that dream job her whole life goes into a tailspin of confusion. So distraught is she over her misfortune she fails to realize that love is starring her in the face and that there are other things that are more important then a certain job. As she tries to find a job and figure out what she is going to do now she learns lessons about love and life that can't be taught in college or found at a certain job.

• This movie was pretty good.
• Bledel is a great little actress and her eyes are absolutely gorgeous blue that looks great against her dark hair.

3 Stars

Pandorum

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster
Suspense Thriller, 2009 (Rated R)

Two astronauts awaken after an extended slumber on a space ship to a nightmare of killer mutated creatures and more questions then answers as they try to recover their memories and piece together what happened to derail their journey to a newly discovered planet called Tana. They encounter other survivors and attempt to keep the ship from shutting down so that they can continue onto their destination.

• I remained interested as the movie went on and more and more questions were answered about who they were and why they were there.
• Overall decent movie but it didn't knock my socks off in any way.

3 STARS

Fame

Ensemble cast
Drama, Rated PG (2009)

This is a story about dreams. The movie follows a group of dancers, singers, actors, and musicians from their Freshman to Senior year at a prestigious and competitive school of creative and performing arts in New York City. They all start out in one place with a dream and a goal and by the end of the four years some will make it and some won't. That's the harsh reality of show business and these young would be stars have a front row seat.

• I remember the original 1982 version so I was really looking forward to this one coming out.
• It's the age old story of young people who have this dream and a passion for a field that is so incredibly unforgiving.
• It was not a tear jerker by any means but I know what it's like to have a dream and I have a soft spot in my heart that is touched when I watch a movie about it.
• The acting was OK and the story line was a little flat but all of the amazing dancing and singing made up for it. It it's not your thing it probably won't interest you much.
• Ensemble cast of unknown actors. I heard they scoured the country casting for this.
• This movie really was about the dream. There was a little bit of drama but not enough to detract from the basic premise of the movie.

3 STARS

Spread

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, and Margarita Levieva
Drama, Rated R (2009)

Nicki (Kutcher) is a young former wanna be actor with stars in his eyes that gets by on his looks and his ability to finagle his way into the hears and pocketbooks of wealthy Hollywood women. He is a vagabond of sorts as he moves from mansion to mansion living of of other peoples dimes and latching onto the lavish lifestyle that he craves. While staying with Samantha (Heche) he meets his match when he meets a beautiful waitress. He tries to run his usual hustle and quickly finds out not only that she is the female version of himself but that he actually likes her.

• This was a good movie. Good acting and good quality.
• There is an underlying lesson that all the money in the world can still leave you empty.
• Everyone wants to live that lifestyle. The good life. But how pathetic is it when the only way you can get it for yourself is to use? What does that say about you and how long will people put up with it?
• Nicki is basically a man ho and at some point you have to face facts and start living life the way the regular folks do unless you've figured out a way to get it for yourself.
• Wouldn't if be nice to find love & money in the same place? Nicki couldn't seem to find that and if the woman wanted more and it became more trouble then it was worth it was time to move on.
• Heche has an awesome body. She's been around awhile so I know she is considered an "older" actress but you sure wouldn't know it by that body.
• Levieva has a natural beauty about her. She plays the hot girl in Adventureland.

3 Stars

All About Steve

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper
Comedy, 2009 (Rated PG 13)

Mary (Bullock) is a talkative, quirky, and too smart for her own good crossword puzzle creator. She goes out on one single kind of date with Steve (Cooper) and her oddness is immediately apparent to him causing him to run for the hills. The thing he doesn't understand about Mary is that if she wants you she will follow. Steve finds himself stalked all over as he works as a TV Channel camera man and they find themselves in all kinds of unusual situations.

• Mary is so obnoxious that within the first 10 minutes I kind of wanted to shut the movie off just so I didn't have to hear her voice anymore.
• I found myself asking repeatedly "What in the heck is wrong with her?"
• Kudos to Bullock for totally embracing this unique weird character.
• It is a funny, fun movie and has a very cheesy ending.

3 Stars

My One and Only

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Kevin Bacon
Comedy, 2009 (Rated PG 13)

Ann Devereaux (Zellweger) finally decides to leave her cheating musician husband (Bacon) after 16 years despite the fact that she has never worked a day in her life and has always been a "kept" woman. She sends her son to buy a car and they hit the road leaving New York and their cushy privileged lifestyle behind. Her mission: Find another man to take care of her and her two son's. The task proves not to be as easy as she thought but along the way she learns more about her son's then she ever bothered to know before and discovers something else about herself that she never thought she would.

• The movie is good and I love the way the story unfolds but it moves pretty slow.
• There were lots of shadows in this movie on the actors faces and everywhere else.
• Ann is basically a gold digger as she sets out to find someone to replace her husband when the logical thing would be to find a job.
• She is used to luxury and nannies to the point where she never even bothered to take an interest in being a good mother.
• She is witty, charming and beautiful. The type of woman who usually gets what she wants and generally has life handed to her on a silver platter.
• Every now and then I think of how nice it might be to be that woman who lives a life of leisure and is totally taken care of by a man. It's nice in theory but the idea of being that incapable of taking care of myself and making it my mission to get by on someone else's dime is sort of pathetic.

3 Stars

Nothing Like The Holidays

Starring: John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Debra Messing
Drama, PG 13 (2008)

This is a movie about adults coming home for the holiday's and how often they bring all of their excess baggage with them along with presents. There is the Iraq war hero, the Hollywood starlet, and the successful lawyer with his equally if not more successful stock broker Caucasian wife. This is a Mexican family that loves each other and when they find out that their parents who have been married for three decades are on the brink of divorce it causes quite an uproar.

• We do find out the parents are on the brink of divorce but the reason why turns out not to be what you expect.
• I enjoyed watching a movie about a regular Mexican family that was really about family and not boxed into some of the typical stereotypical themes that often arise in movies about Latinos.

3 Stars

I Hate Valentines Day

Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett

Romantic Comedy, 2009

A florist is such a hopeless romantic that she limits every guy to 5 days so as to keep the romance fresh and avoid any hurt or disappointment. She begins dating a handsome man who opens a restaurant across from her flower business but when the five dates are over she finds that she feels just a little bit differently about her normal operating procedure then usual.

• I thought it was cute how the passage of time in this movie was marked by the different holidays as shown by the decorations and flowers inside Genevieves' flower shop.
• Her character is flanked by the two gay guys who work with her and some other unique friends that add a lot of humor to the movie.
• I am not sure how John Corbett became Mr. Romantic comedy lead (I suppose his role on Sex In The City helped out a lot). He has a kind goofy quality about him in this movie that makes him any girls dream date.

3 Stars