Hancock—film. A movie I had decent hopes for. I liked the concept (a superpowered man who didn’t want to be a superhero), and the trailers looked promising with the visual effects as well as the “realness” of the powers (cracking the street when landing too fast, getting mad at people in a car chase and putting their car in an impossible-to-drive-away place, being too drunk to fly and smashing into road signs). But the movie didn’t live up to the concept or the trailer. No, the movie makers had to throw a mysterious past in there, which gummed things up as they attempted to make the mystery something Hancock could use to be a better hero (instead of him just being one due to his current experiences). Props to Jason Bateman for his work, with a nearly perfect role for him and a half-prop to Will Smith for going outside his comfort zone and being a dick for the first part of the film. C+
Con-Air— Even though I missed it until now, I was told this movie was very Prison Break –like, so I had to check it out. It’s one of those “shut your mind off and watch” movies. Nothing more to it than that (other than it had some good actors: Nick Cage, John Malkovich, and John Cusack). And it wasn’t like Prison Break because I didn’t care a wit about any of them. C+
In Bruges— Two criminals get sent to Bruges to hide out after one makes a critical mistake. Could have been better considering the acting talent in it, but a telling piece of my enjoyment was that my favorite part of the DVD was the minute-and-a-half long extra (or was it 2-1/2 minutes?) that was just a compilation of all the swearing from the movie. I enjoyed a vulgar extra more than the film. Not a waste of time, but brought nothing to the table, either. C+
What Would Jesus Buy?—A documentary about Reverend Billy, and his crusade against what he calls the “Shopocalypse”, where all Christmas will become is a day to buy presents for. I get the idea behind it, and I actually agree with much of it (a Wal-Mart clerk died in a Black Friday stampede in 2008—for nothing more important than a cheap Christmas present), but this documentary wasn’t all that interesting or informative. C+
Doctor Strange—Finally an attempt at Marvel Animation that exceeds the source material. The plot was a bit lame (especially the overly long intro to Strange—which I understand was needed to get the newbies up to speed), but I really liked how magic was shown in this story. I never could quite grasp it in the comics, but seeing it in motion worked for me. Not a great movie, for sure, but one I enjoyed more than I thought I would (considering I’ve never been a Strange fan). C
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa—film. The first movie felt a little flat to me, and this one was the same. There were some humorous moments, nearly always involving the penguins and Julian, but there just wasn’t any heart to it. Worth renting just to catch the penguins do their thing, but be ready to sit through some long sequences without them. C-
The Pineapple Express—film. What if you made a low-budget movie that didn’t look cheap? And what if you filled it with lots of potty humor and pot-smoking? You’d get this film, which I liked but didn’t love. Made by the Judd Apatow gang and starring the usual Apatow cast and filled with the usual R-rated language and hijinks. It was funny, and I was entertained, but I almost had the feeling this was “phoned in”. I’m sure it was designed to be haphazard because the two main characters are potheads (and James Franco and Seth Rogan really sold the parts), but it just felt as if it was a movie made entirely of scenes they couldn’t fit into other movies. Like I said, it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t do much for me. C-
The TV Set—TV. Maybe I just know too much about the TV Industry, but there were no surprises here: a brilliant writer creates a wonderful pilot—and then the whole thing goes to Hell as the actors, studio, and network tweak things to “make it better”. I think the people who made this movie just had an axe to grind. But I guess if the average joe gets an idea of how the entertainment industry waters down nearly everything it touches, it serves a purpose. C-
27 Dresses—I saw this movie two months or so ago, and I can barely remember anything about it. I mean, there was the standard stuff: girl sees love all around her but doesn’t have it herself; girl meets guy she doesn’t get along with; girl and guy still get flirtatious and then more serious; girl and guy have a blow-up; and then they get back together once they realized there was 1. a mistake that caused the fight or 2. they are still right for each other. I don’t remember disliking it, but the fact that I can barely piece any of it together later means it wasn’t memorable. C-
Wedding Daze—Another fairly standard chick flick, but it did co-star Isla Fisher, who I am quickly becoming a big fan of. Nothing really stands out to me after a couple of months since I’ve seen it. Worth renting, maybe. C-
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