2009 Movie Reviews; 1st Qtr: G-N

Get Smart—I have so little recollection of this film (even though it’s only been, at most, three months since I watched it) that I can’t even give it a proper review. But then, I guess, with the acting talent involved, not remembering anything about it pretty much sums up the movie. C

The House Bunny— I’ve railed on a few movies already for being bland or predictable, and this one could have easily fallen into that same trap. The story is old (Revenge of the Nerds and hundreds of others follow the same pattern), but the “losers” were pretty funny, and Anna Faris really was the glue that held the film together. She could have easily gone through the motions, and no one would have thought less of her as we’ve seen that all so many times before. But Faris was engaging, and even though her character was as dumb as a box of hammers, she conveyed a sweetness that made her fun to watch. B

Justice League: New Frontier—A direct-to-DVD adaptation of one of the seminal super-hero comic book mini-series of this decade. Taking a retro (1950-60s) approach to DC Comics heroes we all know and love and putting all the various pieces together to make a complete story was a tough task, to be sure. But it worked well. Nothing really groundbreaking about this (other than it was above-average quality when compared to recent comic book animation DVDs). And the extras in the 2-disc set were a nice bonus. B

Leatherheads—I love how George Clooney is perfectly happy to go against the grain and do movies in the style of older classics. This is a “screwball classic” as was made in the ‘40s and ‘50s. The only issue I have is sometimes there is no reason to make a film like a classic other than what seems to be as just as an experiment. There’s nothing much that makes this film stand out other than to see the actors try something different, which isn’t bad in and of itself, but it did feel a little forced to be a style.
But I really did like the attention to detail. The football scenes really were different than what we’re used to seeing—even how the players ran differently then than they do now. And, of course, you could just see how much fun Clooney was having by his presence on the screen. That dude is truly a star, and there are very few of them right now, no matter what People magazine or Entertainment Tonight would have you believe. B

Meet Dave—Strictly looked at as a kids movie, it worked well. My guys (5 & 6 years old) enjoyed it. But as an adult, it didn’t do much for me. I’d give it a C+, with a bump to a B- because it had Elizabeth Banks.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan-- I found this film to be beautiful to watch, and it told a nice story, but I was hoping to get more of a history lesson about the man. This felt more like a pre-origin story (he was not once referred to as Genghis Khan because it was so early in his life). Maybe the story is true, but the filmmakers could have easily just told the story and there didn’t have to be anything at all to indicate this was Kahn. B-

Monsters vs. Aliens –film; I saw this in 3-D, and it made for a more exciting experience, although, at its most basic, it wasn’t much better than any other animated material out there. Meaning: 3-D may be exciting at first, but the film itself will be what lasts through time. I think it tried to serve too many masters, and unlike the superior Pixar products or even shows like Phineas and Ferb, it just couldn’t find a common ground that entertains both children and adults simultaneously. I’ve said this too often this quarter, but it makes it no less true this time: this was pretty standard fare. (Bonus points to Seth Rogan, who was perfect for B.O.B). B-

My Blueberry Nights—had all the makings of a good movie, but I think it diverted too far off any one tone to make to coherent. It’s not to say it was complicated to follow, it just felt like different movies at times. Norah Jones was impressive in her only acting role (according to imdb.com) to date—and played the lead. David Straithairn and Rachel Weisz also brought a great emotional quality to their characters. Jude Law and (most sadly) Natalie Portman’s characters probably could have been played by most anyone. I had higher hopes for this one as it looked like a better movie (and got decent reviews from the places I read about it). B-

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow—Another in the increasing number of animated Direct-to-DVD movies featuring Marvel superheroes. This one is definitely aimed at a younger crowd (some of the earlier movies were not) as the tone is much lighter. But I can’t understand why the need to create the next generation of superheroes (the offspring of the current Avengers) when Marvel already has so many heroes to offer for this sort of thing. The only thing I can think is Marvel doesn’t have many child heroes, and they wanted to tell this story. I guess it wasn’t a bad movie, and long-time Avengers fans would get some of the “Easter Eggs”/mentions, but this movie is for the youngsters Marvel needs to get excited about comics. If this movie is someone’s first exposure to superheroes, then it might be successful; otherwise, it’s pretty standard. C