50/50

A young radio producer discovers that he has a rare form of cancer and that his odds of survival are 50/50.

I went into this expecting a dark comedy and was somewhat disappointed that it wasn't really that funny.  I liked the idea of taking something that was extremely serious and laughing at it.  Making light of awkward situations that might come up, or shamelessly using ones illness to get what you want. But for whatever reason it didn't happen.  There were odd holes and major inconsistencies that not only made this somewhat trite, but also annoying and boring.  The movie is only and hour and forty minutes but it felt much longer.  The love interest is so unbelievable and the characters seem way to cliche.

I really wanted to like this, but... no.


** Rentable


Rated R (for sexual content and language) 

The Ides of March

A young idealistic press secretary believes in the democratic process.  He is zealously committed to his candidate, his candidates integrity, and knows they can win.  As his ego in his own campaign grows he makes a couple of mistakes that may cost him the election.

I absolutely enjoyed this and am somewhat hesitant to give too many details away.  First of all, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling?  Already I like it.  Second, they are all so perfectly cast.  They do such a great job, you forget that Clooney isn't really running for President.  The best part of this though, is that it shows the politics behind the politics and does it in an almost graceful way that neither glorifies it nor belittles the game but the players.

Really well written, well played, well cast, well done.


*** Must See


Rated R (for language) 

The Three Musketeers

Athos, Aramis, and Porthos... you all know the story, right?

OK so I went into this with, I don't know, gusto perhaps?  I was excited, though not overly expectant.  Wow!  Disappointing to say the least.

Let me break down the flaws for you.... so first of all, they tried to "Sherlock Holmes" it up.  You know what I mean by that, don't you?  Lots of slow motion, clever wood-worked gadgets, and a touch of the matrix.  Yes, well that didn't really work here.  You see, The Three Musketeers, though fiction, is a classical story about the art and skill of swordsmen.  When you attempt to turn them into a seventeenth century mission impossible crew, the story suffers.

Speaking of story.... correct me if I am wrong, but were there flying hot air balloon pirate ships in Alexandre Dumas' novel?  I mean, I know that wasn't in my book.  And OK, it's understood that this is fiction and that one might add their own twist or flair to it, but this so did not work.  It was ridiculous and completely leveled the authenticity and fun of a classic action adventure story.  Along the lines of the writing, the dialogue.... way too modern. Uncomfortably so.  The hodgepodge mix of accents, be they French, English, American, or what have you was annoying too.  Now we come to the cast.  This is where they actually did a semi-decent job.  They were believable, the looked the part, and had they had a cohesive script might have made a fun movie.  Funny thing is, that the 1993 Disney version of this, though somewhat comically and cartoonishly cast, did a MUCH better job.  They followed the story, they all spoke in a classical cadence while still able to be humorous, simple yet consistent accents, and it was believable -- not to mention satisfying. This one gets so off track the ending is crushingly dumb. Don't do it.


* 1/2 Rentable


Rated PG-13 (for violence)

Abduction

A troubled teen begins to question the identity of his parents, thus doubting who he is himself.

This was dreadful. Absolutely ridiculously horrible.  I don't know who wrote this, but it was like finger nails on a chalk board.  There are multiple sections of spoon fed dialogue thrown at the audience as the writer obviously couldn't be bothered with story development.

Also how were they able to pull this cast together?  I mean did they read the script? Or just owed someone a favor?  I am guessing the latter as Sigourney Weaver was just phoning it in, and Alfred Molina seemed put out the entire time.

I actually gave up on this movie.  No I really did, I told myself it was OK to fall asleep.  I was traveling and out of the state at the time, I figured I would use the time to take a nap.... It didn't work.  Not only could I not fall asleep, but I discovered that a bad movie is even worse with your eyes closed.

* Not-A-Chance


Rated PG-13 (for language and violence)