Easy A - Passes with Flying Colors

I have to admit, I was a chronic teen movie junky, throughout high school and college. Now, it has to be a stellar movie to get my approval.  Easy A is that movie.  It is rare that a "teen movie" comes along and really impresses me.  Easy A hits that sweet spot on almost all fronts.  The film is well written, well acted and genuinely funny and clever.  The adorable Emma Stone takes the lead as Olive Pendergast, a sophisticated and witty high school student.  Olive isn't the most popular girl, and in fact, most people at her school don't know she exists...that is, until Olive perpetuates a lie.  Olive goes along with a lie that she loses her virginity.  Then she goes along with another facade, as she agrees to tell members of the student body that she had sex with an ostracized gay student that desperately wants to fit in.  Needless to say, one lie begets another lie and Olive agrees to continuing lying for other boys that want to say they have had sex with her.  This goes on and Olive receives a certain amount of attention from her peers.  Ultimately, Olive ends up a social pariah, being called a slut, among other things.  This whole business becomes a social experiment for Olive, and the parallel with the classic novel The Scarlet Letter begins to roll.  Olive basically helps others at the expense of her own reputation.  Alas, I have butchered the plot and my description doesn't do it justice...you'll just have to watch it to get the full effect.

As I said, the movie is well acted with Amanda Bynes playing a religious obsessed goody goody, and she does a nice job.  The story is told with Olive acting as a narrator, taking the audience on the wild ride that has been her crazy experience.  Bottom line, the movie is funny, clever, and it just works.  Oh look at me, now I'm gushing.  OK, it's not going to win an academy award, but it is good old fashioned fun, in the vein of Mean Girls, and I am not ashamed to admit that I love that movie.  Don't get me wrong, cliches abound, but it all fits nicely.

Final Verdict: Buy it, or if you're scared, give it a rent, I think you'll like it.

For similar movies see:

    
       

Takers - No, This Isn't an Adult Film

Yes, for some reason I ended up watching two bank heist movies in a row.  Truthfully, they are very different.  I would say The Town is a far superior film.  It has better acting, a deeper storyline -- with much greater character development, and a far more realistic plot.

Takers, however, is fun in its own right.  I would only recommend it to those that have seen everything else on the shelf, if you really love bank heist movies, or those of you that really love Paul Walker.

The movie starts out with a bang, and it becomes quite engrossing.  For the most part the film is fast paced, but it drags in the middle.  With so many "main" characters, developing characters that have some depth to them is a challenge.  A challenge that the makers of this film were not able to meet.  None of the characters are developed fully leaving the audience feeling detached, and somewhat disinterested in what happens to our protagonists.  Another issue is that we are torn between who to root for.  The film sets itself up as following a crew of very talented bank robbers.  However, when examined more closely, the real protagonist appears to be "the cop," played by Matt Dillon.  Dillon does an OK job, but I have had a hard time taking him seriously since There's Something About Mary.  One interesting thing was the homage to The Italian Job (2003) (the remake), a film I enjoyed.  With its all male cast (yes there were a couple females, but they weren't highlighted at all), and a name that suggests some sexual adult themes, the film does bring a smile to my face.  Overall, the film had its moments, some of the action scenes and gun play were done quite nicely, but this is one that should probably stay on the shelf, unless you love the actors or the genre.




Final Verdict:  Rent...if you really want to.

For similar films that got the job done a little better:

                      

The Town - The Same Yet Different

Ok, so it's been awhile since I posted a movie review, and with good reason!  A lot of life changing events have occurred, one of which was the indexing of my blog on Google, hooray!  The other means that these reviews also are coming from the perspective of a dad...yep, your humble reviewer is now a dad.

Anyway...we recently watched the Ben Affleck movie, The Town.  See the trailer below:




So, this film stars Affleck, was co-written by Affleck, and was directed by Affleck.  Overall he did quite well. Affleck appears to be at his best when he is basing a movie around the Boston/Harvard culture, which this movie is chocked full of.  The movie feels familiar because several of the plot devices have been done before. Tragic hero at a crossroads in his life, he's made mistakes, but he is likeable, smart, and on the cusp of turning his life around.

Affleck plays a bank robber that has been highly successful at his job.  He works in a four man crew, with Jeremy Renner as his sidekick.  From the wrong side of the tracks in a suburban town, Affleck falls in love after doing a successful job.  The woman that works in the bank becomes Affleck's love interest, and the stage is set.  FBI comes in to investigate and we have all the pieces in motion.  Overall you'll feel like you've been here before, but that's not bad, it's warm and cozy in this film.  The chase scenes are nice, and the images created during the nun bank robbing scene are very memorable.  Playing off of Bean town stereotypes and themes and plot devices you've seen before, you'll feel right at home.  Good movie, not really mind blowing, but entertaining.  A solid film that is well made and well acted.

Verdict: a winner, and worth a rental.

Inception: This Generation's Matrix?

Greetings and apologies to all 3 of my loyal fans. An apology is in order due to my delinquency in making a new post. With that said, on to the review.

Inception, see this movie! Ok...ok...it may not be for everybody, in fact I can think of at least two people in my life that wouldn't like this movie. If you get confused easily, don't like to think, and didn't enjoy Nolan's past work (i.e., The Dark Knight, Memento) then you may not appreciate this film. I am always afraid to gush over a movie, for fear that my friends, family and readers will disagree with my view. However, in this case I am willing to say that Inception is a fantastic movie, worthy of the "masterpiece" label.

Inception is a movie about an alternate reality in which it is possible to enter a lucid dream with a group of people. I won't go into the details of this process, but, needless to say, it is quite cool. "Inception" is the ability to plant an idea in a subject's head, making them think that it is their own idea. This is the opposite of "extraction," where a person, or a group of persons enter a dreamer's mind in order to obtain information. "Inception" is supposed to be near impossible. "Inception" is of course the task of our protagonist, Cobb (played by the incomparible Leonardo DiCaprio, yes I am a DiCaprio fan).

I'll let you watch the film to get more of the plot. But, I highly recommend seeing this film. The ensemble cast does a fabulous job. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in particular, does a fantastic job, often stealing the spotlight from DiCaprio. The visual effects are stunning, realistic and blend CGI with live-action stunts and effects. This film is a great example of how a film should use CGI. I won't harp on this point but, in watching some behind the scenes specials I was able to see that Nolan demanded that they actually design a rotating set for the "anti-gravity" fight scene. Other film makers would have chosen to create this scene through after effects. The use of a set that actually rotates upside down, created an unparalleled level of realism. The construction of that set actually reminded me of the sets that were used in the making of several Nightmare on Elm Street films, particularly the scene were Johnny Depp meets his maker.

The one criticism I will make of the film is that every character, aside from Cobb, lacks any real development. However, most won't notice this as there is so much else going on in this film.

This is the type of film that will leave you scratching your head, leave others creating wild theories, and consistently promote goodhearted debate. Bravo Mr. Nolan, you have another winner on your hands.

Final Verdict: See this film, and enjoy some popcorn.



For other films with a similar vibe, check these out:

Knight and Day: Care Free Summer Action

I went into the theater thinking one thing, "entertain me."  With the bar set at that level, I walked away satisfied.  Knight and Day won't be winning any Oscar's, and it probably won't be making anyone's top ten list.  But, if you're not expecting it to do those things then it will probably entertain you and give you that summer time movie feel.

I am a fan of the phrase "summer popcorn movie."  Like so many movies before it, Knight and Day knows exactly who it is, and isn't ashamed of it.  The movie sets out to do one thing, take the viewer on a fast paced, high intensity roller coaster.

The film is about a secret agent, Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), that may or may not have gone rogue over a new kind of technology, the "Zephyr."  In executing his plan, Miller bumps into (literally) June Haven (Cameron Diaz), the cute, but slightly clueless (or is she?) love interest.  From that point on the film brings the viewer from locale to locale, and action sequence to action sequence, all the while setting up the "funny moments" we have all come to expect from this brand of action comedy.  I won't ruin any plot points, although it probably wouldn't matter if I did.

The Verdict: If you want to go to the movies to forget reality for a little while, check this flick out.  It is a good summertime movie, worth a rental at least.




For similar movies, check out:

Until my next review: Enjoy these

You know you love this kid:






Would you eat this, sounds tasty!

Blind Mind: Things That Puzzle Me

This post amused me:

Blind Mind: Things That Puzzle Me