Role Models (2/5)
More adult-male-as-infants to drive a bland coming-of-age story (I thought coming-of-age was closer to thirteen). There must be an anthropological explanation as to why this subject matter puts butts in seats; one that I'm not interested in exploring right now, I have some "Grand Theft Auto 8: Sex Offender's Delight" to play.
Scent Of A Woman (2/5)
Pacino can really wear me out; two hours of yelling and the evermore obnoxious "whoo-aa" suck it. If O'Donnell weren't there to provide some Oregon-bred ease then this film would be a lance in the earhole. The tango scene wasn't nearly as spectacular as I remember; the love interest in the second to last scene was insulting--I was plenty convinced that Pacino decided to embrace life when he played with his niece and nephew in the driveway, not ...
Rescue Dawn (3/5)
For a low-budget film, set mostly in a prison camp, this was quite compelling and kept my interest to the last reel.
Charlie Wilson’s War (4/5)
This picture moved along well and ended with the now widely accepted truth: that the Cold War covert op in 1980s Afghanistan screwed up a lot of things. Though Mr. Wilson and Co. had good intentions, the funding to rebuild the war-torn country was sadly neglected. I like to believe the State Dept. learned some valuable lessons here but I doubt it--especially since they were decidedly kept out of Iraq this last go around. And, it was nice to see ...
Dawn Of The Dead (4/5)
Zack Snyder updates the classic zombie picture with good gore and reasonably compelling drama. Even a surprising redemption of the jackass security guard. My housemate and I liked to guess who would die and who would live--we got all but 2, well, until the closing credits rolled and screwed up everything.
I Love You, Man (3/5)
These days I have rather low expectations for films of this ilk (the bromance)--if I get a few laughs and a main character who doesn't drag me through too much unnecessary bile and homophobia I will call it good. This is probably the best effort in the burgeoning genre and features two very likable lead actors breaking some new ground and having a lot of fun in front of the camera. I was entertained.
Se7en (5/5)
My favorite Fincher film and something I seem to crave when the season turns to Fall. It is a perfect story addressing the struggle to fight against the dark verses escaping to apathy.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (5/5)
More Hughes on the brain here and so pleased at how this classic has aged. I vividly recall seeing this in the theater back in 4th grade and loving every minute of it (of course I've seen it twenty times since). Nowadays, I see the central arc of the story as Ferris hoping on behalf of his best friend Cameron; giving him a day of such joy and adventure that his fears will no longer dictate his life. Beautiful.
Adventureland (1/5)
The most overrated film I've seen this year; high 80s on Rotten Tomatoes. This is how the film came to be: hey guy, lets make a retro 80s pic in a theme park! Ya, and we can play Falco and drive a Gremlin. Then they proceeded to phone in a pathetic dramedy script with cardboard characters and annoyingly short scenes. I think it goes from day-to-night-to-day at the theme park over 200 times. Tedium. And, aping Michael Cera does not, a leading man ...
Eden (2/5)
I was an extra in this low-budget Seattle film about a woman dealing with a terminal illness and terrestrial escape to get away from her brat kids and dick-wad husband (the two actors actually married after meeting on the set). I have several career defining scenes including, "riding-the-bike", "wearing-the-sweats", and "opening-the-door-to-the-cafeteria". It was the role I was born to play baby! And yes, this shit is on my CV.