Buried (2010)

OK, so this guy is buried in a box... wait, that's a different joke.

In this movie, there's a guy buried in a box...

Well anyway, let me make this clear: guy, box, and it's buried under ground.

Anyway, all kidding aside, this is intense. Intense. I rarely hope for reprieve, but in this movie I was praying for it--I was feeling claustrophobic despite the ample comfort of my recliner. Powerful movie, but I'm still not sure if I'd recommend it to you.

Rango (2011)

"It's 'E' motion capture."

That's all I could think of. Johnny did so much talking about 'E' motion capture, that's all I could think of when I was watching this.

I'm more of a Johnny-before-pirates-of-the-caribbean-Depp fan, and Rango incorporated a lot of the drunken swagger of Captain Jack Sparrow swagger. I guess it worked, and a lot of people might find it appealing if they're Pirates fans, but I could have done without it.

Also, as best as I can tell this was billed as a kids movie, yet I didn't think it was quite right for my 3 and 6-year-old. Maybe it's more the 10-14-year-old age bracket. Movie rating industry: maybe we need expanded ratings?

Limitless (2011)

OK, so in a previous review I ranted about movie trailers that include clips not found in the theatrical release... here we have a trailer that includes all it's best scenes in the trailer. Take a look:



All that juicy dialogue with Robert DeNiro, all of it? Yeah, mostly at the end. "I was limitless." What? The movie is called Limitless, so why don't we get to experience more of his limitless-ness? Most of it was tacked on to the end, or glossed over.

Premise is cool, production quality was there, I just felt it fell short a bit. Something more akin to Antitrust where he gets the cool job and you see some growth and fun before the conspiracy kicks in wouldn't have been more inline with what I expected, and would have appreciated.

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

I had high hopes for this movie. I'd skimmed some reviews that said Blackhawk Down meets District 13.

Well... yeah, not really. I mean, I can see the comparison, but I think the execution falls short. I just didn't feel deeply involved in the action, and while the dramatic parts were endearing, I could either have done without them or they should have been developed more.

Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

So let's get this out of the way: I hate it when previews for movies contain lines that the theatrical release does not. Ocean's 11 did this, and The Lincoln Lawyer did this "Why can't you get a real office?" "What's more fun, my office or mom's office?" when his daughter is in the car. See the trailer:



Why do they do this? I guess the movie marketers do their own thing, but still, it just pisses me off!

Aside from rants like the above, this was a great movie. Probably not Matthew's most powerful performance, I do like to see him do a bit more, but in general good movie, and the twists and turns kept me on my toes.

Michelle read the book, and said it stayed true to the book, so that's always a plus with movies.

Rio (2011)

OK, can someone call Pixar, and tell them to buy all the other kid's movie houses? Seriously...

OK, OK, I know that won't happen. So listen up: parents (you know, they're like kids, only bigger) take kids to movies or show kids movies. If the parent is not entertained, chances are you won't get their kids to your movie next time! Pixar seems to have this awesome balance of kid-friendly excitement and fun along with adult-oriented humour. Other movies too do this, like Bolt which used generic terms like 'Cat' and 'Dog' in reference to various characters "Hey, listen Cat..." which I thought was great with the interplay of those terms in modern slang (think Randy off American Idol: "Yo! What's up dog?!").

Anyway... see my previous review for meatballs... some of these are just garbage.

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

So, apparently I'm a bit of a science fiction nut... but oh well, there's worse things to be. :)

While I found the pace somewhat slow, I really enjoyed this film. The scenes with Matt and Emily running through doors struck me as probably the best "foot-chase scene" I've scene. I think that should be a new genre, similar to car-chase movies. :)