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Movie Review: (2008) Made Of Honor

Made Of HonorI must admit that I am biased towards this movie, I have a big crush on Michelle Monaghan. That being said, this is your standard romantic comedy. A guy drunkenly gets into bed with the wrong girl in college, they end up forming a friendship. Ten years later the girl goes to Europe for six weeks, during that time the guy realizes how much he loves her, she comes back engaged to be married to an Irishman. The guy of course accepts her request to be the maid of honor. The usual shenanigans take place over the next few weeks, at the last minute she changes her mind and decides that he’s the right guy. They apparently live happily ever after. Your standard fare romantic comedy. I’m not saying that there weren’t laughs, there were plenty of laughs. Patrick Dempsey is believable as the ladies man turned devoted friend. Michelle Monaghan is lovely as the confused bride to be. If you enjoy romantic comedies then you will probably enjoy this movie.

I’ll give it a B- Personally I enjoyed it quite a bit, because I have a thing for these sappy movies.

Movie Review: (2006) The Sasquatch Gang

The Sasquatch GangThe Sasquatch Gang is a comedy akin to Napoleon Dynamite in that it is quirky and awkward. The execution of such a comedy can be challenging, this group pulls it off well. The cast, composed mainly of unknown actors, does an excellent job selling their respective characters. The way the story is told is interesting, it unfolds somewhat like a comic book being told from the perspective of many characters. Each chapter is one character’s view of roughly the same time line. Justin Long is terrific as the prototypical redneck American with a wicked mullet drinking PBR and hanging out with his buddy that doesn’t wear a shirt. The movie centers around three nerdy friends who, among other things, participate in live role-playing with foam swords and other weapons. This results in some humorous moments between the protagonists and antagonists at various points in the movie. The portrayal of the teenage nerd coming of age is spot on, awkward romance and all. All of this makes for a pleasurable viewing experience, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite and other similar films.

I give it an A-

Movie Review: (2004) Primer

PrimerPrimer is an interesting independent film with a strange and hard to follow plot. After watching the first 10 minutes or so I found myself somewhat bored yet I couldn’t look away. There are very strange time-travel themes in the plot with many a paradox. Even now, after watching the entire film, I don’t completely understand everything that happened. I found the movie enjoyable because it made me think. At the same time I was left feeling unfulfilled at the ending. Without giving away too much of the plot I will try to outline things. Four friends help each other build machines in a garage, trying to invent something that will bring in some venture capital. Two of the friends decide to build something without the other two knowing and accidentally end up building some sort of time machine. From that point on the plot becomes fairly confusing and never entirely clears up. If you enjoy a movie without all of the flashy special effects of the standard sci-fi and/or a movie that will get your brain moving then this is a good choice.

Overall I will give it a C+ It was interesting, but in the end it didn’t make much sense and left me feeling like there was no reason to watch in the first place.

Movie Review: (2008) What Happens In Vegas

What Happens In VegasI went into this movie not expecting much and in turn did not receive much. This is basically a prototypical Romantic Comedy, sans romance. The chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher is pretty well non-existent. The whole story seems outlandish and highly unlikely. A couple of people get married in Las Vegas after an all night bender, the next day they decide to get an annulment. One of them wins 3 million dollar and the usual trail of carnage follows as they fight over who the money belongs to. This movie is really neither romantic nor comedic. The supporting cast far outshines the leads. Lake Bell playing Joy’s (Diaz) best friend is witty in her fleeting scenes. Zack Galifianakis is humorous, as is usual for him. And Rob Corddry is sufficient as Jack’s (Kutcher) buddy and lawyer Hater. All in all this movie is not very satisfying and I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone who can’t take their brain out of their skull in order to watch it.

I give What Happens In Vegas a D.

Movie Review: (2008) Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah MarshallForgetting Sarah Marshall isn’t exactly standard fare for the Apatow gang, but at the same time it is. Jason Segel both wrote and stars in this romantic comedy, with an emphasis on comedy. He shows his love for all things muppets in this movie, at one point even performing the opening theme song to The Muppet Show. He also shows his musical prowess by performing more than once on the piano and singing. Mila Kunis, the girl that you probably know as the annoying one from That ’70s Show, is all grown up and has turned out to be an exceptional actress, not to mention very sexy. Kristen Bell flexes her comedic muscles as she did so often on Veronica Mars. The movie is everything you have come to expect from an Apatow production and even more. Toward the end of the movie we get to see Peter Bretter’s dream of a Rock Opera about Dracula and eternal love come to life, using puppets made by the Jim Henson company no less. This has scored Segel a spot writing the script for the next Muppet movie, which he admits has been a dream of his. All in all this movie made for a very satisfying viewing experience, even the second time around only a few months after seeing it in the cinema.

Overall I would give this movie a B+. Here’s hoping that Apatow’s gang keeps bringing us funny, witty comedy for years to come.

MusicGeek.org + MovieGeek = WIN!

So, here we are, less than a week after the launch of MovieGeek and I have already moved. Thanks to the generous offer from Matthew Montgomery, the beloved  owner of MusicGeek.org, MovieGeek has taken it’s rightful place in the MusicGeek.org family. So let us hope that we can enjoy many prosperous years together here at our new home.

AlanRay Lloyd

Movie Review: (2008) The X-Files: I Want To Believe

The X-Files: I Want To Beleive

I just got home from seeing The X-Files: I Want To Believe. It was somewhat disappointing, which I actually expected. Chris Carter has said all along that this movie would have very little to do with the over-arching storyline of the series, which is a disappointment. Toward the end of the series there was fan outcry that the alien plotlines were too dominant, when the series ended many fans claimed this was why. I was on the opposite side of the fence, I felt that the main plot was so much more interesting than the earlier season’s ‘Freak Of The Week’ episodes. This movie felt largely that way, like an earlier episode of the show, with very few ties to the actual show other than the characters of Mulder and Scully. I feel like they wanted to make it friendly to people who never watched the show, there were very few references to the main story arc. Don’t get me wrong, it was awesome to see Mulder and Scully together again, working on a case. I would have much rather had a lore filled movie than this. I get the feeling that fans are now going to say “this movie didn’t have anything to do with the storyline of the show” and will be disappointed at this fact. The same fans that cried about the plotline when the show was in it’s later years, begging for a return to the freak of the week mentality of the earlier seasons. As I was leaving the theater I heard one guy saying to his friends “I actually thought that was a horrible movie, it didn’t have anything to do with the show.” I think a large part of the failure of this movie will be the fact that it was released only 1 week after The Dark Knight, which was bound to be more popular.

Overall, I would have to give the movie a C rating; it just didn’t feel right. Here’s hoping that if they go ahead with another movie, they will return to the main plot at least a little bit.

Movie Review: (2007) Atonement

AtonementSo I finally managed to get around to watching Atonement. I must say it is not what I was expecting, of course I hadn’t read anything about the story beforehand so I shouldn’t have really expected anything. It was certainly a different experience for me as far as romance stories go. Initially after the first 20 minutes or so I actually turned it off and decided I would return to it later because I was rather bored with it. This was one of only a very few times that I have done such a thing, being bored with a movie is just not normal for me. Part of it may have been that I was having difficulty acclimating myself to the British accents of the characters. The first part of the movie is mostly shown from the viewpoint of Briony Tallis, and I came in to the movie expecting it to be about Keira Knightley’s character Cecilila. After I managed to get settled into the movie it was a fairly enjoyable experience. I’m not here to give away plot details, but I think maybe the best scene of the movie was the long steady cam roaming shot of the soldiers on the beach after Robbie and his two mates arrive there. It was visually stunning to see the sheer scope of the British army all packed onto one beach. To be honest I didn’t understand the point to this movie until the last 10 minutes or so. Once I arrived at the end of the movie everything was tied together in a neat little bow and I realized what it had all been for.

Overall I would have to give the movie a B-