The Good, the Bad, and the Meh

[spectralbovine]

I watched a lot of really good movies in my last batch. I...did not this time.

Comments

[loopychew]

I want to watch so many movies on this list it's crazy, but I'm happy you liked the ones I did watch (Duplicity--which none of my other friends enjoyed--and The Long Kiss Goodnight, which I remember watching in the theaters way back when and always thought was awesome--then again, it may have been my first proper introduction to the hammy SLJ after his turn in Jurassic Park).

I actually still use the "ass and umption" line from time to time, and haven't yet found an appropriate time to say "that's a duck, not a dick" or "why didn't you say so? Hold on a minute while I pull that outta my ass."

Also, I remember the entire theater cracking up about everyone in New Jersey trying to escape and failing. You can guess where we were watching it.

[spectralbovine]

I actually still use the "ass and umption" line from time to time
I came up with that line INDEPENDENTLY years ago! It was so weird to hear it in a movie. I thought I'd been sooooo clever.

[ethanvahlere]

I didn't care for either Crazy, Stupid Love or 50/50 because I didn't care about the characters. For the former, I guess I'm coming to the sad conclusion that outside of The Office and Little Miss Sunshine, I'm just not a fan of Steve Carrell. The only character I liked in the movie was Ryan Gosling, simply because, unlike everyone else, he was funny, but even his character went downhill. And Emma Stone's character made no sense to me; before she hooks up with Gosling, she's supposed to be so jaded, yet she's with this jerk? As for the latter, I liked Levitt and his scenes with Anna Kendrick, but I found Rogen and Howard were one-note.

I liked Young Adult more than you did because of the bravery of Theron's performance, but I agree with you about the ending (a character suddenly becomes a plot device to let Theron off the hook?). And while I liked Haywire a little more than you did, I do agree with your criticism; I think Soderbergh was trying to build a movie around her like The Limey was built around Terrence Stamp and The

[ethanvahlere]

Moving on, I liked Duplicity a lot more than you did; granted, I love spy stories (more on that with Tinker Tailor), but I just thought this was very entertaining. And, SPOILER if you think about it, it's kind of cool the two stars of the movie end up having the rug pulled out from under them by a couple of the supporting cast. END SPOILER I didn't find it lifeless; I was entertained throughout. And there's a reason why that conversation is repeated. I hear what you're saying about Take Shelter, and I agree about the sameness of Michael Shannon's performances, but I do think he was more varied here than elsewhere (his scenes with his daughter, and when he questions his sanity, for example). And Jessica Chastain was amazing here; next to Tree of Life, this was my favorite of her performances of last year. I agree about the ending, though.

I may have to give Long Kiss Goodnight another chance; it was a cool premise, and I liked the set-up a lot, but for me, the execution was too overblown (typical in a Shane Black film, IMHO), and

[spectralbovine]

a character suddenly becomes a plot device to let Theron off the hook?
It wasn't even that but that whole scene at the end that was basically, "Man, small towns are so stupid, and you should feel good about yourself for being better than all these people."

[spectralbovine]

That is in my Netflix queue somewhere! I've heard about it, and it sounds really cool.

[thetheatremouse]

I have been remarkably disappointed in my Netflix choices recently. It's been a bummer. Although I just watched 50/50 and pretty much agree with exactly what you said.

[chrismarlowe]

I'll agree with you and thetheatremouse on 50/50, which I just watched a week or so ago.

[spectralbovine]

It got some points for having some cool dream sequences, and I really did like that they had a deaf daughter, since you don't normally see that.