September Movie #1: Drive

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman
Directed By: Nicholas Winding Refn
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Drive is about... huh. I can tell you what this movie is not about. It's not about driving. There's very little of it. It's not about action. There's very little of it. It's not about dialog. There's very little of it. It's not about plot. There's very little of it. It's not about character development. There's very little of it. And it's not about pace. It's a bit slow.  They probably should have named this movie Nothing. Technically it's about Driver (played by Gosling) who is a stuntman/mechanic by day and wheelman for hire. He falls in love with his neighbor Irene (played by Mulligan) and decides to help her husband with a heist. That heist pits him up against the mob and destroys his quiet, fly-under-the-radar life.


Yes, you're reading it right. September is over and I only saw one movie. That's probably because I waited through easily 20 previews before this movie started (I started watched it on the 1st and was finally able to leave the theater on the 30th). So many previews! I think every movie being released in the next six months had a preview before this movie. By I digress.

Although I cannot find anything on imdb.com, this seems to be an 80s remake. It has to be. That would make the 80s style pink script font credits and cheesy soundtrack and bad silk scorpion jacket understandable. If  it's not a remake... weird. Perhaps the director is stuck in the 80s. Or born in the 80s. Or just thinks the 80s were cool. When you see the neon credits and hear the hokey music of the soundtrack, it definitely tells you that the 80s were not cool.

I couldn't help but think the opening scene was a direct rip-off of the Transporter. Everything about it - the shots, the style, the tone, the premise - screamed rip-off. I started to wonder if this movie was going to be just a remake of the Transporter. And considering Ryan Gosling is a wonderful actor, I was wondering if I would like his character better than Jason Statham's in the Transporter (and I was feeling quite guilty about the possibility of liking Gosling more than Statham). My conscience was quickly soothed. The opening drive/heist scene is action-packed and smartly done. But the rest of the movie is absolutely, positively nothing like the Transporter. Nothing. There are really no more driving scenes. And really no more action.

It was hard to get a grasp on Driver's character. By night, he's a driver for hire for heists. Then by day, he's a stunt driver in Hollywood. No, wait, that's part time. He's also a mechanic. He doesn't say much. He doesn't even have a name (although it was interesting how there were several moments where he should have been introduced by name to people and it never comes up. That's actually well-done - the side-stepping of his lack of name). He just likes cars.

With what little they had, Ryan Gosling did a wonderful job acting with his face, his eyes. Carey was sweet. Simple.

The lack of dialog at times seems very odd but at other times helps to build a sense of mystery. Who is Driver? Where does he come from? What makes him tick? Does Irene really want to be with her husband or Driver? There were times were the actors' faces helped move the scene along and there were times where the quiet was awkward. But mostly, the lack of dialog frustrated me because there's so much plot and character development that's released through dialog. There's more talking in 127 Hours (and that mostly has one actor on screen).

I can handle a movie called Drive that has virtually no driving in it. I can handle a movie with very little dialog. What I can't handle is that movie has Albert Brooks playing a tough guy mobster. Albert Brooks? Is he not getting any better movie offers? Or did he just want to play thug? Horrible!!

So... lack of driving, lack of action, lack of plot, lack of characters, lack of dialog. That all equals love! Ha! Just kidding. It's actually not a horrible movie (Ryan and Carey save it). It's an odd movie. And not in a good way. I definitely do not need to see it again. Ever.

August Movie #4: Winnie the Pooh

Starring the voices of: John Cleese, Jim Cummings, Bud Luckey, Craig Ferguson
Directed By: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall
Run Time: 1 hour 3 minutes

Winnie the Pooh  is about Winnie's quest to get some honey. And Eeyore needs a new tail.

The nice thing about this movie is that the theater understood its audience. They did not show any previews. There is a short cartoon before the movie and then bam - movie. And this movie is just a little over an hour, perfect for little ones.

The movie opens on a phenomenally sweet note - a sweet song sung by Zooey Deschanel. And it only gets better from there. What was not to love? Winnie the Pooh sings a duet - with his TUMMY! Eeyore has some wonderfully melancholy, classically deadpan lines. I love Eeyore. And Piglet does not say "Oh, I can't do that because I'm too small." I am not a Piglet fan... and this movie made even Piglet tolerable. I dare say I even liked Piglet. Excellent character development. We got to know and love each character. Pooh is such a mellow, sweet guy.

If you can't tell, I absolutely loved this movie. It was such a simply plot. It was a sweet story.  I am so glad saw it on the big screen. Big, bright, beautiful Tigger, Winnie, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and Rabbit (and Piglet). The honey hallucinating scene was quite splendid. I loved Christopher Robin's room during the credits with toys reenacting scenes from the movie.

I am definitely going to buy this one.  So good!

August Movie #3: Fright Night

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots
Directed By: Craig Gillespie
Run Time: 2 hours

I watched the original Fright Night as a youngster. I loved it. When I heard there was going to be a remake, I was skeptical (just like I am about the Dirty Dancing remake).  I was on the fence about seeing the remake but the reviews indicated that it was pretty good. I love horror movies.

Fright Night is about a teenage boy named Charley (played by Yelchin) who suspects that his new neighbor Jerry (played by Farrell) is a vampire. He tries to protect his girlfriend Amy (played by Poots), his mother (played by Collette), and his best friend from the vampire but the vampire is hell-bent on sucking their blood. Charley enlists the aid of a well-known vampire expert Peter Vincent (played by Tennant) but it seems as though he is more of a Las Vegas showman than expert.

The previews before this movie were all for horror movies. I wasn't happy about being scared before the movie even started! The opening scene of the actual movie borders on quite scary and a little hokey because the the split second images of the vampire is very laughable monster-ish looking.

My one disappointment with this movie is that it leaps right into the premise. Within the first five minutes of the movie, Charley's friend announces that Charley's new neighbor Jerry is a vampire. He's done a little research, gathered some evidence. Bang. Plot exposed. And even though the movie opens with the main premise already revealed, the opening few scenes drag. They're slow.  We're waiting for something to happen. The movie opens full throttle, backs off to a snail's pace, and then launches full throttle again. The movie really picks up once Jerry wages war on Charley.

At first, I was not nuts about Colin Farrell's Jerry. He didn't have that allure, that charm, that draw. He was supposed to be drawing Charley's mother in, drawing the audience in, but it seemed a little stilted. There's wasn't an oozing suaveness to his character, although I could see that he was trying. When we saw Jerry in full vampire force, I sensed the vampire charm. He won me over more with his bad-boy tactics. In the original, I rooted for the vampire because he had charisma that just sucked (ha!) me in.

I absolutely loved David Tennant's embodiment of his character Peter Vincent. At first, I kept thinking, "He's no Roddy McDowell" but I grew to enjoy his version. There was a simple beauty to his character and his behind-the-scenes persona. I loved the charlatan reveal (removing his costume). Beautiful. I loved how each second more was fraud was revealed. I actually thought the actor playing Peter was Russell Brand until he removed his costume. And I cheered towards the end when he decided to own up to his character.

The special effects for the vampire transformation were incredibly bad. I don't understand why Jerry had to morph into some monstrous CGI-laden abnormality. Give us some fangs and be done with it. We get that he's an evil vampire. No need to beef it up.

One absolute moment of pure genius - Chris Saradon, who played Jerry the vampire in the original, had a delicious cameo in the remake. I hooted loudly out loud when he graced the screen. There were three other people in the theater. I'm hoping at least one of them saw the beauty of this scene. I think they just wondered why the only chick was cheering just because some old guy got out of a car.

Normally, I prefer the original to the remake (The Mechanic is the exception to liking the remake more). This one is a tie.  I'm still wavering between the original and the remake. Loved, loved, loved the remake, especially the ending where Charley took Peter's advice on how to battle the vampire and made it work. I also loved the original. It had a sweetness to it, a simple charm. The remake had a lot more action, had some great characters, and a fabulous ending.  You can't go wrong with either. If you like horror, see this movie. If you like vampire movies, see this one. If you like David Tennant, this is a good one for you.

August Movie #2: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon
Directed By: John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Run Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Crazy, Stupid, Love is about Cal Weaver (played by Carell) who has to adjust to life without his wife of 25 years after she announces suddenly one night that she wants a divorce. After moping away in a bar, he meets Jacob (played by Gosling), a sharp dressed ladies man. Jacob takes him under his wing by helping Cal dress better and be able to pick up women.

I really liked this movie. It's kind of a chick flick from the guy's point of view.

There's a great twist towards the end. I didn't see it coming, which means it really is a twist and that it was well done. I was conflicted about how everyone was behaving in the twist, trying to decide if it was in keeping with their character but in the end, I decided it was great.

One side note about the movie: Steve Carell's real life wife has a bit part in this movie. She plays the wife of a friend of Cal's (as well as the mother of the babysitter). I loved that she decided to be friends with Emily (played by Moore) and abandon Cal. She made her (movie) husband stop being friends with Cal. I loved that. Well, not the fact that she made her husband stop being friends with Cal (come on, is this high school where we have to take sides?) but the fact that it must have been fun for the actress to be snippy to her real life husband.

Steve Carell has the greatest wounded dog expression as well as the greatest fawning expression. His eyes are very expressive. Those looks make him very charming.

This movie had a lot of interesting characters. I loved how Cal and Emily fed off each other's sense of humor. It's such a trait that made it painful for me to see them be separated. I liked Robbie (Cal and Emily's son) and his notion of soul mates and true love. I think the best scene was the scene with Hannah (played by Stone) and Jacob getting to know one another. It was fun. They played off each other well.

I liked how everything wrapped up nicely. Part of the story is very sad and painful, part sad and sweet, part funny, and parts were very charming. It's a good movie. Don't expect it to be side-splittingly funny just because Steve Carell is in it. It has humor but it is a movie about the trials and tribulations of relationships. Very good. Well done. I really liked it.

August Movie #1: Captain America: The First Avenger

Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci
Directed By: Joe Johnston
Run Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Captain America is another comic book brought to the silver screen. Steve Rogers (played by Evans) is a skinny, sickly young man just itching to serve his country. He enlists five different times and gets rejected five times. Still, he keeps trying. He doesn't back down from any sort of fight. He's a good guy. After Dr. Erskine, a military scientist, observes that Steve is the type of solider he's looking for, Steve finally gets his dream and is allowed to join the Army. There Steve is subjected to a scientific experiment that turns him into a superhero - he grows a foot, gains 50 pounds of muscle, and has super speed and strength. He is Captain America!

I did not see this one in 3D because apparently I got the posted times all confused. There were so many moments where I was sad that what I was seeing was 2D. I wanted my version of the Rosie Huntington-Whiteley butt shot in Transformers 3 (which would have been the moment scrawny Steve emerges from the cocoon as brawny Steve). Darnit. I'm sure those pecks would have looked so much nicer with an extra dimension. Sigh. I'll never know.

I heard so many good things about this movie that I think it killed some of my enjoyment. I heard that it's one of the best comic book movies out there. I will say that it's leaps and bounds better than The Green Lantern and Thor. It's not quite as good as the first Iron Man, though. That movie was intense, fun, very well done, and a great ride. I think the acerbic wit of Tony Stark pushed that one over the top.

This movie had amazing character development, which is a pleasant surprise for both an action movie and a comic book. There was an amazing amount of backstory to Steve Rogers (aka Captain America). We truly get a sense of who he is, what kind of person he is, and what makes him so special. He was sweet. He was incredibly likable. He was unbelievably good-natured and good-hearted (whereas Tony Stark is kind of a pompous jerk). He was smart. He was patriotic. He was brave. He just didn't have the body to back up his gusto. He was so humble. He was a wallflower with a brilliant spirit.  As a scrawny person myself, I was rooting for him. He was a great character and Chris Evans did a great job with him. It was well acted. I think we even get a good sense of who the Red Skull (played by Weaving) is through Dr. Erskine's eyes.

I did think this movie was a tish too long. After one encounter with the Red Skull, I assumed the follow-up scene was the ending. It felt short but was a good stopping point with an opening to a sequel.  But there was at least forty-five minutes to an hour left in the movie. Since I thought the movie was wrapping up, the next few minutes were tough to get back into the movie. It does pick up momentum and the second to final scene is wonderful, if not poignant and sad. You definitely get a sense of who Steve Rogers is.

The final scene made me even sadder when you realize what really became of Steve Rogers. "I had a date."

The initial two opening scenes did not suck me in. The opening scene confused me. The scene scene bored me. And then third scene, with scrawny Steve Rogers, sucked me in. It took a bit to get into this movie but once I was in, I rather liked it. I just kept marveling at how awesome Steve Rogers was. Such a great guy.

I rather liked this movie. Didn't absolutely love it (like I did Iron Man) but it was good. Great story. Great characters. Nicely acted. I think the battles between Captain America and Red Skull were too nice. They seemed like two gentlemen in a slap fight. They played nicely, even while they were hurling each other around the room and trying to kill each other. It all seemed so chivalrous. I think there were so many moments where Red Skull easily could have killed Captain America but for some reason didn't pull the trigger. I do understand why he walked away after the initial encounter but even right before then, I thought there was a moment where he had Captain America. Just a bad guy with heart, I guess.

There were some tiny points here and there that I didn't much care for about the movie. I guess that when you become a superhero, you gain the ability to fly an airplane. Huh. And I'm not quite certain how the Red Skull storm trooper-esque army guys didn't incinerate their opponents with the blue Odin's cube weapons. Some of them did (toward the end). Why didn't they all? And what was with the vagabond group of merry men misfits that Captain America saved and then later made his team? They weren't military (that beard on Dum Dum Dugan was not regulation). Did I miss why they were in Red Skull's prison?

But little quips aside, I did like this movie, mainly for the good-hearted Captain America.

Ooh - stay until after all of the credits. I mean all of the credits. They're quite lengthy. So many people worked on this movie. There's a preview of the Avengers movie, which brings together Tony Stark, Thor, and a whole slew of other superheroes.

July Movie #5: Cowboys and Aliens

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano
Directed By: Jon Favreau
Run Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

Cowboys and Aliens combines two genres - the western and sci-fi. Jake Lonergan (played by Craig) wakes up in the middle of the desert with no memory of who he is or what happened to him. He knows it was something bad and strange because he's wearing a big, bulky metal bracelet. He wanders into a nearby town and quickly thereafter is recognized as a wanted man. He has a nasty run-in with Percy Dolarhyde (played by Dano), who is the son of Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde (played by Ford), the man who runs the town. Just as Dolarhyde and Lonergan are taken into custody, the town is attacked by aliens. Lonergan is able to shoot down one of the spaceships using his mysterious shackle. The townspeople band together to find their loved ones that the aliens captured.

I thought both genres - the western and sci-fi - were done well,  but the western was much more enjoyable and better done. Unfortunately, this movie is a victim of the alien syndrome - where the aliens are much scarier and intriguing when you don't get a full view of them. Once you see the alien, you can't help but laugh and think to yourself, "That's not what an alien looks like!" They always seem to get the alien wrong.

The western portion of the movie - guys in cowboy hats riding horses - was full of intrigue. What was that thing on Jake's arm? How did it get there? How did he escape? Was he part of some plan the aliens concocted? Will they find the abducted townspeople?

What I found most interesting was the clash of the two genres - how do people who have never experienced technology battle technologically advanced foes? When I put myself in their place, I could quite imagine the scene where the lights from the alien spaceships floated into town could have been quite scary and confusing. They've never seen LED lights like that before. They've never heard things beep before, like Jake's bracelet did. And to see a spacecraft hover like that must have been unbelievable scary and foreign.

In addition to the lame looking aliens, the reason the aliens were on earth - and attacking - was half-baked. Lame. I did not see why their reason for being on earth would make them want to kill. I suppose they're just angry creatures. Maybe the sequel will address that issue, put an alien into therapy.

I thought Daniel Craig was superb, as always. He truly embodied the grizzled outlaw. If Jeff had seen this movie (I went with my brother-in-law Joel opening day, first showing), I'm sure he'd say this was just another opportunity for Daniel Craig to be brooding and pouty (his take on Quantum of Solace). I thought he was fabulous. Harrison Ford seems, in his old age, to be playing the curmudgeon quite a lot. Don't get me wrong - he plays cranky well. It just seems to be his go-to character lately.

I thought this movie was well done. The western genre is wonderful; the sci-fi part was a little hokey (queue the aliens and their reason for being on the planet) but the action sequences between the posse and the aliens was quite well done. All in all, this is quite a good movie. There's one little twist that's interesting (especially for the fellas in the audience). Well acted. Interesting story. Well done. Slight hokey. I will definitely watch it again.