Death at a Funeral

six out of ten

A man's father dies and everyone is attending the funeral. Lots of crazy hijinks happen. Ha. Ha. It made me  laugh a handful of times so for that it gets a 6/10 but I'm quite sad at the dearth of good movies new to DVD.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

six out of ten

This movie is based on a real life operation in the military where psychics were used to try to bend spoons and do other metaphysical things. The movie follows a journalist in Iraq who runs into one such psychic and wanders with him as he goes on a mission. It's sort of funny, but very weird. It held my attention though once we reached the end, I was left unsatisfied.

Up In the Air

six out of ten

Maybe this movie was too hyped up or me but I finished it wanting more than I got. This is a movie starring George Clooney who plays a consultant who travels every weekday helping companies fire their employees. He is training an underling with spunk and having a relationship with a woman with whom he may realize he wants more despite his determination to be single and not have baggage. I guess I thought the movie was going to be heavier on plot. If you like character assessment movies this is one of those. It's 'a day in the life of' and its well acted and makes you think, but its not a plot driven film by any means.

17 Again

six out of ten

It's a lighthearted movie about a guy who becomes 17 again and could possibly redo the mistakes he thinks he made in his life. Instead he finds a different purpose behind this freak circumstance: helping his kids. It's a comedy and its silly but you should expect that going into it. For what it is, its fine.

Public Enemies

Six out of ten

I was very excited to see Public Enemies as I am a fan of Johnny Depp. Though he did a good job acting in this movie I found the movie as a whole to be rather disappointing. The movie follows the life of Johnny Dillinger who robbed banks in the 30's. We don't get into why he does what he does, we just watch what he does. In this way it felt almost like a bizarre documentary. Still, it was well acted and though I would not consider it my favorite movie, it was interesting.

The Uninvited

six out of ten

The heroine of the movie is released from a mental ward after dealing with issues surrounding the death of her mother to a house fire. She comes home to find that her mother's nurse is now living with her father and seems to have a past that may be shadier than anyone suspects. I'm not usually one for scary movies but this one was interesting and I enjoyed the ending which I did not see coming.

The Hangover

six out of ten

I think sometimes when people hype up a movie too much you're bound to be disappointed. This is a comedy about friends who run off to Vegas for a bachelor party and things get crazy. It's a funnier twist than I expected and enjoyable for one of the usual raunchy comedies out lately.

District 9

six out of ten

This movie felt like a veiled analogy to the Is.rael/Pal.estine conflict. Aliens landed in South Africa two decades earlier and their spacecraft won't work. They are relegated to refugee camps and treated poorly. A task force set up to deal with them goes to work and a spill on one of the workers causes unexpected results. I thought the lead actor was okay, perhaps a different actor and the movie would have been better. The aliens were disgusting looking. They looked like large roaches, in the movie they were given the slur of "prawns" because they look like . . . prawns. It's an interesting suspenseful movie clearly set up for a sequel. I liked it, but it could have been much better.

He's Just Not That Into You

six out of ten

I heard lots of bad things about this movie but I actually thought it was a cute lighthearted girlie romance flick. I read the movie and it is a true "how to" advice book for women about men and how if they aren't making an effort or are giving you hints of disinterest well, they're just not that into you. The movie follows four or five women. Some are in love and married, some are living together, some are single and yearning. We follow each woman and their search for Mr. Right, or keep Mr. Right. I enjoyed it. It made me laugh and I thought the acting was very cute. I thought the ending was too neat of a bow, but still overall it was enjoyable.

Vantage Point

six out of ten

This movie isn't bad, the problem with it is that it could have been way better, and I can't help but hold this fact against it. This is a movie about an assassination attempt on the life of the US President, told from several different vantage points. You have to figure out what's going on as the story pieces together from different points of view. Unfortunately I figured out the "twist" early on so the rest of it played in "color by numbers" format. Still, the acting wasn't bad, and it was an entertaining flick from start to finish.

The Bee Movie

six out of ten

This is a movie about bees and one bees quest to reclaim the honey exploited by the MAN! Its cute, light hearted and quite appropriate to watch with kids. I think I liked it because I saw it with a kid. On my own, not sure if I would have been intrigued.

Baby Mama

six out of ten

This is a movie about a 30 something corporate single woman who decides she wants a baby amidst her busy life but finds she cannot have them on her own due to deformed fallopian tubes. So she searches for a surrogate mother to carry her child for her. The surrogate mama and the bio mama live together and an odd couple sort of fiasco follows with a bit more of an emotional twist.

You have to go into this movie with the understanding that it will be somewhat predictable and the things that will make you laugh will be very obvious. If you are in the mood for a light hearted comedy that is fine. Just fine. Then this is a movie for you.

Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanemo

six out of ten

This is a HILARIOUS movie if you see it as a series of skits. As a whole its not really wonderful but I think the point of the movie is that its the sum of its part rather than the whole.

All this being said- DO NOT watch this movie with your baby brother. Also, you might want to just make sure you are prepared for extreme nudity and other very embarrassing moments that you might want to hide under a blanket and blush furiously.

Minus those scenes- great flick.

Gone Baby Gone

six out of ten

This is a film about a girl who gets kidnapped and the search to find out what happened to her. The film provides a very interesting concept and the twist at the end really does leave you thinking. I felt this movie could have been better had Casey Affleck not been the big star of the flick. I know many people rave about his acting abilities but personally I find his acting obvious taking me out of the film.

Basically, its a good plot told fairly well, but Casey Affleck's acting left much to be desired.

Ocean's Thirteen

Six out of ten

Its entertaining, it does the job. I wouldn't say its 100% believable or that I didn't roll my eyes at least twice. But its interesting, if you're going to see an entertaining Ocean's movie, it is what it is.

Knocked Up

Six out of Ten

Knocked Up is about a girl who gets (don't hold your breath) knocked up by a stranger after a one night stand. She is determined to have this child and even more determined to have the father of the child have an active role in her child's life and her pregnancy.

I know people really loved this movie but I couldn't get past the logic behind the choices the pregnant girl made. WHY would you ask this guy who you barely know who knocked you up to go with you to the gynecologist? Is that necessary? I guess the resulting jokes were just too obvious for my tastes. And I also wasn't convinced by the girls' determination to have a relationship with the baby daddy. I mean, he's an idiot, he's going nowhere and you don't even like him. I understand her reasons, but I didn't find them believable. It was okay, there were times I laughed, but it definitely was not my favorite movie. Personally, in my opinion, it was one of the most overrated films of the year.

The Good Shephard

Six out of Ten

Very interesting movie but it makes me wonder what could have been. This movie is about the CIA and how it came to be by following the fictional main character played by Matt Damon and his rise to power in the CIA. The movie shows the sacrifices one must make when your job takes precedence over your life. It goes into details about the Skull and Bones society, and has a very chilling scene on torture that is worth watching for anyone on the fence about whether the use of torture is legitimate in interrogation settings.

Its a very interesting movie and the story line is important particularly in this day and age when we're taught to be sheep more than we are encouraged to think. Unfortunately, this is a case of an editor who took a nap while on the job. Had the movie been edited better, it would have been more than interesting, it would have been a really good movie that was compelling.

Talladega Night- The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

six point five out of ten

Will Farrell plays Ricky Bobby in this race car comedy following a race car driver who struggles to make it back to the top after a spiraling fall down. When this movie was playing in theaters the only reason I did not see it right away was timing issues with friends. I am quite glad I waited for it come out on video. Though it had it certainly had some funny moments it was overall a relatively mediocre comedy with jokes that grew tired as they reincarnated in slightly different variations throughout the duration of the movie. I think this movie would appeal more to an early twenties crew in a large group giddy on a lot of coffee. To put it another way, you'd have to be in the mood and with the right group of people to fully enjoy this movie.

Mission Impossible Three

six out of ten

Agent Aisha your mission if you choose to accept it is: stay awake in MI3 from start to finish. Your eyelids will fall down in five seconds.

Ok. I dont like action flicks and this one had no other plot but to show you action stunts. I rate it six out of ten because the stunts were cool and I heard Tommie actually performed them himself which is really impressive. But really, would a little substance hurt? I mean to highlight the lack of plot Tommie at the end asks Luter "what's in that thing" The thing being what he spent the entire film trying to find and rescue. Yeah. Doesnt even know whats in it. And ofcourse Luther dont share. *yawn*

16 Blocks

Six out of ten

This movie centers around a stagnant cop (Bruce Willis) whose told to pick up an inmate (Mos Def) to take him to the courthouse to testify at a Grand Jury trial where many crooked cops will be named. The trip to the courthouse is deterred 16 blocks short by said crooked cops and the movie centers around Bruce Willis determined to take him to the courthouse.

***warning- spoiler alert****

The movie was interesting, very very suspensful but I felt the writer/director/SOMEBODY took a few too many liberties with the movie with "easy out" shortcuts. For example, the bus scene where its Mos Def and Willis in the bus and they're careening through the city. How did they get the bus "just so" coincidentally right behind the court house considering they didnt choose for it to end up there. The police shot the tires and it ended up sliding there on flats. Very implausible. Another example was the ambulance scene. One minute they're in the ambulance, the next minute they're in a totally different ambulance. I thought I missed something but when I read Roger Ebert's review he found the same issue.

It's no secret, I adore Mos Def. I think he's adorable and funny and he's a fabulous hip hop artist. But I was ready to kill him in this movie. I don't blame him at all but the director or SOMEBODY decided not only would he have a highly nasal voice in the movie they'd have him talk continously throughout the entire movie. I kid you not. Again love Mos Def but this movie was proof that too much of a good thing can be bad.