Basically a couples version of the Oceans 11 (12, 13) scenario (i.e. if the characters of Brad Pitt & George Clooney were romantically involved). One of those heist/con movies that works while you’re watching it, but is just a little bit too slick in the end, too many things work out “just” right. Or do they? Whether they do or not, you can pick apart about a million things when you leave the theater so it’s really whether or not that ruins the experience for you. (In this case, for me, it did not.)

The difference between the Oceans movies and this one is a bit of added slapstick thanks to Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti playing feuding consumer products CEOs. It’s partially hilarious because you’re like come on NO ONE’s this crazy…but on the other hand, it’s hilarious because hello CEOs of Fortune 500 companies…are TOTALLY this crazy. They both brought a very hilarious physical energy to their roles.

Not much deeper than your average bit o’ fluff. But definitely entertaining and Julia/Clive played their love/hate relationship very realistically. Ah, the hidden jealousies. So nasty when they become unhidden.

MK insisted (and I mean INSISTED) we go get champagne after this movie (they seem to celebrate each assignation with yet another bottle) so we had a long leisurely afternoon… Fun times!

An afternoon at the $3 theater* is always so pleasing as you can see things that have long left the mainstream theaters still on the big screen.

I’m not sure anyone else on earth saw this movie but really? I quite enjoyed it! It was pretty cheesy and the crazy Asian dudes whose power is SCREAMING? Yeah, they were a bit much. But if you decided to just roll with it, there was some cool Matrix-y / Wanted type stuff. And Dakota Fanning was really good. Impressively so.

I wasn’t blown away by Chris Evans but I thought he did a decent job and Djimon Hounsou always manages to bring some serious gravity to his roles, even if silly.

Totally entertaining and didn’t piss me off. So you know, a worthwhile afternoon at the movies! AND ONLY $3. 🙂

*Which JUST upped its price to $4 a few weeks after this!!! I thought C. was going to die of shock when he found that out!

I have no idea how I was blissfully unaware going into this movie that hello it’s about the fucking Nazis. (Generally I cannot watch Holocaust-related movies as the sobbing and the crying just get out of control. Yup, I’m a crier.) Maybe because this and that suburbia movie with Leo were released so close together? Not sure, but somehow I just had no idea what this one was about.

Kate Winslet was totally entrancing and I really loved the sloooooow revelation of the movie, how you suddenly come to realize what the kid suddenly comes to realize. To someone who’s been thinking a lot about the particular relevant issue* these days (long story), the “middle” of the story was done so nicely. Not an easy thing to portray on film.

The ending was really quite beautiful in its very sadly devastating way.

*That bit’s a big spoiler so I’ve tried to be vague as it’s worth not “knowing” going in.

This movie was oddly affecting. Strong and interesting performances both from the main dude and the kids in his classroom. Intriguing look at a very diverse classroom/school. Also interesting to think about and watch how the teacher needs to approach students in individualized ways and when that does or doesn’t work.

Yet somehow it felt a bit incomplete. A number of storylines that weren’t quite tied up or where it wasn’t quite clear how the resolution came about. Yet definitely kept you involved and interested and felt very “true”.

Worth seeing despite feeling a bit…unclear at the end.

Don’t read this if you don’t want SPOILERS but honestly if you wanted to see this, why haven’t you seen it already?
Uh huh

SPOILERS.

The ending of this movie made me so angry I had fumes coming out my ears. But T. sitting next to me was totally wiping away tears. So you know, there’s another point of view.

Not sure why all the reviews are rah rah Mickey Rourke, who is basically, face it, playing himself, right down to the wrestling. COME ON. Hey congratulations on pulling your life out of the shitter and doing a decent job acting again? Hello, not sure why that’s SOOOOO noteworthy.

Whereas Marisa Tomei isn’t actually a down-and-out stripper in real life, yet here a) she does a great job and b) the movie is as much about her transformation as his. Perhaps moreso since her character ACTUALLY works toward transformation a bit harder than his, frankly. I wasn’t prepared to see literally all but about an inch and a half of her naked body, but I thought her performance was outstanding.

So he basically gets a death sentence, halfheartedly tries to change, tries to start anew and oh gee things don’t go EXACTLY his way? COME ON!!! He has a shitty day and his daughter and potential girlfriend don’t give him exactly the response he’s looking for? So he basically commits suicide via wrestling? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. If I committed suicide every time things don’t go exactly my way…

I spent several years in NYC working TWO jobs, 9-5 at #1 and 6-10 at #2 Monday through Friday, plus 10-4 Saturdays at #2 and some Sundays. That sucked fucking dick and it wasn’t by any means the only shitty thing that happened those two years. Funny how SOMEHOW I kept going. WHATEVER.

Oddly time has not softened my feelings toward the end of this movie but made me even madder.

Wow, this was incredibly bad. Bad dialogue, bad plot, bad everything.

Someone online called it “The Crappening” last year but I refused to believe it. Yup. Believe it.

Sometimes it ain’t just about the movie. Sometimes it’s about the awesome people you go with, or the personal ziplock of delicious homebaked cookies they bring you, or the boy you see in the audience that you’re bewilderingly too shy to really talk to.

I am not generally an animation fan. But I loved it.

Liked. But did not love.

Good:

• Oh the romance.
  
• Oh the feel-good-ness of it all. The Bollywood dance at the end (the intercutting of them alone, them with crowd, and them as young) was so smile-inducing. Everyone in the theater seemed so happy on the way out.

• The framing technique got old. FAST. They should have ended it about 15 minutes earlier because the movie got SO much better once the stories all came together.
  
• So, so, so, SO predictable. You could spot that ending a mile away.

And frankly that last one is what killed it for me. Movies this predictable should not be given awards, if you ask me. Or if they are, with a “*100% predictable” tacked on the end.

Worth seeing, sure. But the Oscar? Eh. Milk should have won. That was predictable only in that IT WAS FROM A TRUE STORY.

(For pete’s sake (who’s pete), Iron Man was less predictable than this!!!!)