Flixd: nine

Lots of new releases in the list this month. I lined up Monday returns to score new releases for Tuesday. There are still some older flicks in here too as I am still in the middle of that. Those are almost all gone now though. I expect that I’ll be thru with that by November.

Thoughts and heads only. Oh, and I have an idea on linking the two for next time. What if I write one sentence per head? That could be an interesting exercise as I was a bit too wordy this month. Not overly wordy I don’t think though. You tell me.

Sex Drive
I streamed this one and I honestly am not sure how it got in my queue. Might have been a recommendation. Anyway, the story has been told before. You know, kid wants to lose virginity and high jinx ensues. In this case, it is set up by a MySpace hookup. You had to wonder if Chris Hanson was going to be at the receiving end. The movie was okay. The sidekick as a nerdy, but ahead-of-his-time ladies man was funny. James Marsden as the crazy older brother in love with his muscle car, which the younger brother has “borrowed” for the drive, was unexpected and good. That said, Seth Green steals the show as a sarcastic Amish auto mechanic. Speed thru it just for his scenes, but it was good to watch at regular speed too.

[ob1 3]

Ghost World
So, this flick is based on a comic book series that I never caught and I am glad I didn’t. Unless that was good, because this really wasn’t, which was funny to me because I always thought it had good word of mouth. Maybe I just didn’t get it or that awkwardness of a Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch romance wasn’t supposed to be so awkward? A still mostly unknown ScarJo plays Birch’s bestest and her performance was weak. I gave it three stars on Netflix and I’m not sure why, but I will keep that for here. Maybe you will get it and fill me in.

[ob1 3]

School for Scoundrels
I generally dislike Billy Bob Thorton and still don’t get Napolean Dynamite, so therefore generally dislike Jon Heder. That said, when I saw the commercials for this on the telly, I knew I’d eventually want to see it. The scenes they chose were just too funny. Of course, in general, they’ve shown you all the good scenes in that trailer, so the movie tends to disappoint. Luckily, they didn’t do that here. There was plenty still in the can and I really had some good laughs watching this one. Check it out.

[ob1 4]

Smokin’ Aces
I’m for any movie where I can see Ben Affleck gunned down like a little bitch by the future James T. Kirk. Lots of star power here and a crazy plot to off Jeremy Piven make for a good action flick even if Affleck didn’t get perforated. Surprisingly, Ryan Reynolds did not get nekkid in this one. Also, Alicia Keyes can act a little bit. Good, but not as good as Shoot ‘Em Up, even though it isn’t the same other than crazy action.

[ob1 3]

I Love You, Man
I think in past posts of this series it has been established I am a Paul Rudd fan, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I liked this one. Jason Segel — thankfully not showing his junk — and Rashida Jones rounded out a nice cast so all three were great. The premise of the movie was good and executed well, but I didn’t laugh out loud that much while watching it. Okay, generally when Lou Ferrigno shows up it was laugh out loud funny, but not laughing out loud didn’t take away from enjoying the comedy that was there. Not for anything, but Ferrigno is making a nice living playing himself lately, no?

[ob1 4]

I Heart Huckabees
Another flick with lots of star power by a director I like, David Russell. Well, I liked Three Kings anyway. Overall, I really didn’t like this outside of Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman. Those two really stole the movie if you ask me. They earned it an extra star.

[ob1 2]

The Stepford Wives
I have to be honest, I was hoping for more Christopher Walken here. I made it thru the whole thing, but it really wasn’t necessary.

[ob1 1]

Adventureland
I was expecting a comedy here and instead got a dramedy. That’s okay though, I liked it. Kristen Stewart is a little too cute to be so blah. I haven’t seen Twilight, but I heard it is the same there. Anyway, I thought this flick was all about the kid pursuing her, but he got her pretty quick. A little too easy. Oh, and loved the rollover minutes kid running around nut-punching everyone. Actually watched the extras for that. Ryan Reynolds not naked again. I guess that will change when I see The Proposal, which I am only going to watch because they filmed across the street from my office. Okay, maybe a little bit because I am also a chick.

[ob1 4]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
So, before the Summer came — excuse me, middle of Spring — I thought this was going to be appointment viewing in the theater. Well, the reviews saved me some green and they were mostly right. Thought this thing was kind of all over the place in a way. Sure, they actually did their best taking the ever evolving comic book origin and shoehorning it into what they’ve established for the film series, but what they did to supporting characters was ridonkulous. Don’t get me started on that or I will really geek out. No, I tried to focus on the Wolverine bits and it was decent there. Still, would have liked more Gambit and Deadpool. Unlike Wolverine, I actually like those characters and they did some good casting. Also, what’s with all the Ryan Reynolds movies?

[ob1 3]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
I had this one in and out of my queue a few times and finally decided to just watch it. The film style and alt-history context is what interested me most and I thought it was kinda cool in those respects. Could have done without Paltrow. Jude Law was decent though and so was Geovanni Ribisi in a, gasp!, intelligent character role.

[ob1 2]

Green Lantern: First Flight
Let me preface this with saying I am not a Green Lantern fan at all and don’t really know much outside of the basics about the character, mythology, etc. because I haven’t read books with a GL character in them outside of team books. That said, I really enjoyed this. I pretty much expected that since I have loved all the new DC animated flicks, but particularly since I saw the making-of this one on the Wonder Woman disc. Thought Victor Garber’s voice casting as Sinestro was spot-on. Christopher Meloni kept making me think of Law & Order: SVU though. Oh, Michael Madsen as Killawog fit well too.

[ob1 5]

Observe and Report
I had also figured this one was a must-see in the theater, but glad I missed it, much like I was glad I missed Pineapple Express. There is a lot in common between both these movies besides Seth Rogen. Like, they both didn’t have me laughing out loud much and both looked awesome in the trailers but not so much in full length. I can’t say exactly what bothers me about both other than that. With respect to this movie, I get that it is meant to be over-the-top and not realistic, but it seemed like they could never decide within what world they were playing it. I think perhaps the improv stuff took over too much. There was a deleted scene they shouldn’t have deleted. I also wonder if we were supposed to think this was how this guy saw the world. That it was reality mixed with fantasy. Probably too deep for this, right? Anyway, Aziz Ansari makes a great appearance. Anna Farris was good, as was Rogen, but they couldn’t make this flick as good as maybe they should have. I don’t know. Maybe I will have to watch this one again some time. Maybe I am just disappointed now and it will grow on me.

[ob1 3]