So, my wife is 37 weeks pregnant (about to pop for those that can't divide by 4) and we had 3.5 inches of snow on the ground. So, my wife felt like doing nothing and I wasn't about to leave the house with her like that and the roads in bad condition. She finally figured out how to make Netflix Streaming work on the XBox.
And with that, here is the long list of movies I
suffered through watched.
The Proposal (4/10) This was actually on DVD.
So, romantic comedy(ish) starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. Now this is Sandra Bullock pre-Blind Side, "I can do Erin Brokovitch too so think of me as the next Julia Roberts," fame and her old style blandness. And Ryan Reynolds as, well, Ryan Reynolds. Anyway, she is Canadian and about to lose her visa, thus her job, so she bribes her assistant into getting engaged to save her status. To make it look real they go to his home in Alaska to meet his family. This is where we run into more could be good, but are done for actors Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steemburgen, and Malin Ackerman. But in this giant pile of crap a diamond peaked her white-haired head through in the form of Betty White. She is the only thing that makes this movie tolerable. She is the only funny character and she adds it with grandmotherly charm. The writers obviously knew she was being cast or knew the character was going to be awesome because when the story requires a touch of deus ex machina they let her fill the role without bringing in timely off-screen aid.
The House Bunny (2/10)
So, Anna Faris (Scary movie fame) is Playboy Bunny that gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and blunders her way into being the house mother for a sorority of loser girls that is about to lose its charter and house. She teaches them how to become superficial about their looks while they teach her to not be superficial about her personality and intelligence. Yay, morality play is over in typical Happy/Madison unfunny fashion. The attempt to draw audiences in with sexy fails as the sexy isn't so sexy.
Following (6/10)
My brother-in-law, who fancies himself an actor, wanted to watch this. He only cares because it was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight) because he thinks that Nolan is God's gift to Hollywood because of The Dark Knight. As an independent film with a bit a plot twist it is OK, but it also isn't good. Basically, it is a story about a guy that gets caught up with a house burglar and conman. Unfortunately the big surprise twist at the end is so telegraphed that a blind man can see it coming.
The Other Man (2/10)
I actually walked away before the end of this movie to do other stuff. I could still see it but I quit devoting my attention to it. Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, and Antonio Banderas in a love triangle story. The actors alone make it sound like it should be good, but Linney is barely in the movie and Neeson's character seems to be a touch crazy. Banderas was good, but it wasn't his story, so he was just supporting.
Keith (6.5/10)
I would have scored this higher but the way the main character, Keith, behaved just drove me nuts. Basically the perfect high school girl, good grades, tennis star, great boyfriend, popular, Duke scholarship coming, is partnered up with the loser in lab class, but his personality just draws her in. He keeps pointing out to her how superficial her life is, how she is living up to her parents wants and not her own. As she becomes involved in his life his mystery only grows more and she finds that she cannot get him out of her head. As she begins to try to understand him she finds herself doing things that are important to her right now, but that also means ducking out on the rest of her life. It was an overall good story, and a bit emotional when you find out everything that is going on. But there were some overly cheesy lines that I couldn't shake, and part of me just couldn't get over the fact that she destroys her entire future to live in the now. The moral almost tells teens that planning for college and thinking about your future is an absolute waste of your time.
The Invincible Iron Man (5/10)
I love, LOVE, the Ultimate Avengers movies, as well as the Hulk Vs. movie (and I am pumped about the upcoming Planet Hulk), but this was the worst of the animated comic tales I have seen to date. The animation suffers some choppiness and the story is painfully slow. It also drags in some odd power struggle between Tony Stark and his father for the company. It is still entertaining when it remembers it is a comic movie, but it felt like they were purposely dragging the story out. It's worth a watch if you are into these films, but it is not nearly as good as the other animated titles in Marvel's library. Sadly, this was the only movie I chose to watch this weekend.
