Its Complicated

Jane (Streep) is the mother of three grown kids, owns a thriving Santa Barbara bakery/restaurant and has—after a decade of divorce—an amicable relationship with her ex-husband, attorney Jake (Baldwin). But when Jane and Jake find themselves out of town for their son’s college graduation, things start to get complicated. An innocent meal together turns into the unimaginable—an affair. With Jake remarried to the much younger Agness (Lake Bell), Jane is now, of all things, the other woman. Caught in the middle of their renewed romance is Adam (Martin), an architect hired to remodel Jane's kitchen. Healing from a divorce of his own, Adam starts to fall for Jane, but soon realizes he's become part of a love triangle.


This movie was hilarious. Streep, Baldwin and Martin all played off of each other excellently and you really get hooked in to the whole demented family dynamic that is created. The unsung hero of the movie is John Krasinski (Jim on The Office) as Streep and Baldwin's future son-in-law who is aware of the affair that's going on. His reactions to what he sees and the pot smoking scenes with Streep and Martin had both WW and I laughing out loud. The movie ran a little bit longer than it had to. Outside of that - there really isn't too much to knock about this movie.


I definitely recommend that people check this movie out. Its one of the more simple and enjoyable comedies out there.

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all.


Um . . . . . . what? I tried to watch this movie. I really did. I kept telling myself that Terry Gilliam made 12 Monkeys and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and that the movie would come off its high and straighten out. I just couldn't do it. After 30 minutes of watching what was clearly an acid trip on film, I couldn't do it anymore. I found myself actually getting nauseous and a headache trying to figure out what was happening while on screen was nothing but crayola/imagination madness. Maybe I will try to watch the rest of this sometime when I have free time and what not. Not sure that I have the stomach for it though.


I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this out. Sure, its Heath Ledger's last movie and Terry Gilliam is one hell of a crazy director, but this movie is way too mish-moshed to be able to enjoy.

Transylmania

In Transylmania, a motley group of college students embark on the most outrageous semester abroad ever at Razvan University. Located deep in the heart of the "cursed land" of Transylvania in a centuries-old castle, Razvan isn't your typical institution of higher learning – and the black leather-clad professors, three-foot-tall dean, instruction in crucifix-wielding, and topless vampiresses lurking in dark corners are just the start. It seems Castle Razvan was overtaken by a band of vampires led by the feared Vampire King Radu in the dark ages who's come back to reclaim it.

This would have been considered a horrible "college" comedy in the early 80s. I stopped watching after 16 minutes. This is one of those that infuritate me that millions of dollars that I'll never see was spent on something like this.

I don't recommend anyone seeing this. Ever. Easily the worst "movie" I've seen this year.

Avatar

The story's hero is Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. Bitter and disillusioned, he's still a warrior at heart. All Jake ever wanted was something worth fighting for, and he finds it in the place he least expected: on a distant world. Jake has been recruited to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 million per kilogram on Earth. To facilitate their work, the humans use a link system that projects a person's consciousness into a hybrid of humans and Pandora's indigenous humanoids, the Na'vi. This human-Na'vi hybrid – a fully living, breathing body that resembles the Na'vi but possesses the individual human's thoughts, feelings and personality – is known as an "avatar." In his new avatar form, Jake can once again walk. His mission is to interact with and infiltrate the Na'vi with the hope of enlisting their help – or at least their acquiescence – in mining the ore. A beautiful Na'vi female, Neytiri, saves Jake's life, albeit reluctantly, because even in his avatar body, Jake represents to her the human encroachment on the Na'vi's unspoiled world. As Jake's relationship with Neytiri deepens, along with his respect for the Na'vi, he faces the ultimate test as he leads an epic conflict that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world.


This is without a shadow of a doubt the most visually amazing movie ever made. I can't remember the last time that I said "Wow" out loud so many times during a movie. I was afraid that the effects and method of filming would be all there was to this movie, but I was wrong. There was a story. It was pretty basic for a 3 hour movie, but it was there. The character development was done well enough that you get pumped up by the good guys and are totally rooting against the bad guys as the movie goes on. Is it too long? Of course it is. They could have easily trimmed out some of the tribal scenes to bring this to 2 1/2 hours. And the script at times was silly to say the least. I'm not sure that I will ever recover from the fact that they actually named the hard to obtain mineral "unobtanium". That was rough. Outside of that, I really have no complaints about this movie.


I strongly recommend that everyone check this movie out. Its a must see visual treat and the movie is very enjoyable.

Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges stars as the comic, semi-tragic, romantic, anti-hero Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man's crazy heart.


This was a really great movie. I usually find biopic like movies like this to be a bore. I was shocked at how in to this movie I was. Jeff Bridges was amazingly believable in this role. Magge Gyllenhaal was equally great. My father has always been in to country music but I've stayed away from it for the most part. However, this movie has pretty much changed all of that. I can't wait to download the whole soundtrack. The way that this movie went in to how songs are written was great.


I absolutely recommend that everyone check out this movie. It is a phenomenal character drama and Jeff Bridges should definitely be taking home the academy award for Best Actor.

The Lovely Bones

Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Peter Jackson, The Lovely Bones centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.


I was very disappointed by this movie. Its not that the movie was bad. I just think that I let my hopes get the best of me after loving the book so much. I found myself questioning why they decided to film things a certain way. I kept questioning their casting choices. It all pretty much ruined the movie for me. The only thing that I really loved about it was Stanley Tucci as the murderer. He was creepy as hell and perfectly cast. Outside of that - not really thrilled with too much of this movie at all.


I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this out. If you havn't read the book there will be plenty of times where you are asking what the . . . . ? If you have read the book you will probably feel the same as me.

Pirate Radio

Pirate Radio is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rouge DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy. By playing Rock n Roll they were standing up against the British government who did everything in their power to shut them down. The band of rebels is lead by The Count, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin the boss of Radio Rock, Gavin the greatest DJ in Britian, Midnight Mark, Doctor Dave and Young Carl who comes of age amidst the chaos of sex, drugs and rock n roll.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was a lot of fun. The characters are all eclectic and great. The music was awesome. There really isn't that major of a storyline, but the music and character interaction are so great that you really don't care.

I'd definitely recommend people checking this movie out. Its just a simple, fun, enjoyable time at the movies.

Crazy On The Outside

Tommy (Tim Allen) is fresh out of prison and ready for a second chance in life. Enter his loving sister Viki (Sigourney Weaver), her cynical husband Ed (J.K. Simmons) and their family. Tommy moves in with them, and when it comes to explaining to Grandma Tommy's whereabouts for the last three years, the truth-challenged Viki has the answer: "He's been in France!"

I kept asking myself why a movie with these actors would get basically no release in theatres. And then I saw it. Its not that the movie is horrible. I've seen MUCH worse movies get the widest of releases. Its just that its the dictionary definition of just sort of being there. It really was one of the more pointless movies I've ever seen in my life.

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering to see this. Again - not necessarily bad. Its just a complete waste of 90 minutes of your life. Unless, you are like me and can "watch" the movie while doing something else like laundry or exercising - don't waste your time.

The Collector

The Collector follows the story of handyman and ex-con Arkin, who aims to repay a debt to his ex-wife by robbing his new employer's country home. Unfortunately for Arkin, a far worse enemy has already laid claim to the property – and the family. As the seconds tick down to midnight, Arkin becomes a reluctant hero trapped by a masked "Collector" in a maze of lethal inventions while trying to rescue the very family he came to rob.


This was one hell of a f*cked up movie. It was pretty much like one of the Saw movies with a different killer. If you like those movies then you'll like this one. This killer tortures a family in their own basement and sets up all sorts of traps throughout the house. You've got a series of nails pointing up on the staircase, bear traps in the living room, razor wire crisscrossing in front of the back door and nails in the phone receivers to name a few. Its got tons of gore. The mask on the Collector is freaky. The dude never says a word but scares the hell out of you every time you see him. The only thing that really bothered me about this movie is that they killed the cat. I always get a kick out of how I have no problem seeing fingers get cut off and guys getting disembowled but if you go after the animal - Matty no likey. To make matters worse, this cat looked like my cat. I literally sat there rocking back and forth with my fingers in my ears go la-la-la-la until I was told the scene was over. NOT COOL, makers of The Collector. NOT COOL!


I'd recommend that anyone in to the nasty gory movies like Saw or Hostel go ahead and check this out. Its not a scary movie as much as its an ewwwww fest of human torture. But its a pretty good low budget attempt at an alternate Saw franchise.

The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans

In Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs -- while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a deeply intuitive, fearless detective reigning over the beautiful ruins of New Orleans with authority and abandon. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). Together they descend into their own world marked by desire, compulsion, and conscience. The result is a singular masterpiece of filmmaking: equally sad and manically humorous.


This was one of the most horribly overacted movies I have ever seen. Nicolas Cage was beyond painfully bad. Eva Mendes was equally awful. Why either one of them chose to be in a movie that would have been a great dirty cop movie . . . . . . in 1983 is beyond me. I pulled the plug after about the first 45 minutes because it was bad and the only reason that WW made it to the end was that she kept telling herself that it would have to get better. It didn't.


I would never recommend anyone bothering to check out this movie. This is one of those movies that didn't get a limited release for nomination cred and buzz build up. It got released limited because it is just straight up poop.