Take 16: (500) Days of Summer

This movie received a lot of media attention in 2009.  Probably a good thing, as I most likely wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

I watched about the first thirty minutes in one sitting when something came up so I couldn't finish it.  At that point, I wasn't all that impressed.

Still, continued buzz and my delight to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt after his 3rd Rock from the Sun days being featured in something, plus in my mind there is something just so darn cute about Zooey Deschanel (even if my cousin is so over her 'cuz he thinks she always plays the same role); I found myself wanting to give this movie another shot.

I am so glad I did.

I enjoyed the 500 day gimmick, which made it very clear when the movie was flashing forward, flashing back, etc. I enjoyed that someone hadn't somehow lost their mind and thought there are 500 days in the season summer...no...the female love interest's name is Summer.  And as I have mentioned before, I enjoy a plot twist I didn't expect because I am so into the story I am not trying to figure out in my head what the obvious outcome will be.

Of course, I don't think it is a secret that Mr. Levitt's character and Ms. Deschanel's character don't end up together.  At the beginning of the movie the narator makes it clear this is not a love story.  Yet despite everything, there is a happy ending or maybe more appropriately a hopeful ending of love to come.

Finally, a movie I feel lived up to the hype and one I am willing to blah, blah, blah about to anyone willing to listen.

Movie 411:
Movie:  (500) Days of Summer
Screenplay Writer:  Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Director:  Marc Webb
Film Editor:  Alan Edward Bell
Plot:  An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her. Cast (top 3 from IMDB, click here to see more):  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deshanel, Geoffrey Arend



P.S.  You may or may not know, I also am the SoCal gal who writes the CaliforniVacation blog and the L.A. Sightseeing Examiner for examiner.com.  I was excited to have the downtown L.A. locations included in the movie and the Walker & Eisen Architects reference for the first high rise in downtown Los Angeles.  I am just wondering if the research wasn't off just a tidge.  According to my sources, Walker & Eisen, designed the Taft Building, which is the first high rise in Hollywood located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine.  The architect for the Continental Building (1902), 408 South Spring Street, was John Parkinson.

Take 15: Up In The Air

Okay, this has nothing to do with the movie, but what if 2009 had also seen a movie in theaters titled, "Up, Up in the Air"?  You know since there was Up and Up in the Air.

Of course, if you are in the know, you know that Up and Up in the Air couldn't have been more different movies.  One is animated.  One isn't.  And so on.

Up in the Air has George Clooney.  As dreamy as he is (don't tell my boyfriend) and as much as in real life he seems to have some sort of inner knowing or something about living life on his terms, living la dolce vida, that it's as if he's always winking at us; I don't see a movie just because George's image is included.  I mean he did some movie that came out in 2009 with "goats" in the title.  Who saw that?

What I enjoyed about this movie is that I didn't expect Mr. Clooney's character's relationship nor his feelings about his job to turn out the way they did.

As a long-time Ivan Reitman fan, I somehow am pleased that his son, Jason, the director and co-writer, is doing well.  I appreciate that he was confident enough to give Mr. Clooney's character a love interest that isn't twenty something or afraid to allude to Clooney's maturing age.  Bravo!

Again, I am not so sure I thought this was as "all that" as all the Oscar buzz it received.  Nor will I most likely feel a desire to watch it again until fast forward two years in the future when it is on TNT or FX.  Worthy of my time and recommendation, however?  Yes.

Movie 411:
Movie:  Up in the Air
Screenplay Writer:  Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner based on a book by Walter Kim
Director:  Jason Reitman
Film Editor:  Dana E. Glauberman
Plot:  With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.
Cast (top 3 listed from IMDB, click here to see more):  George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick 

Take 14: Up

What I love about many of the so-called "kids" (you know, 'cuz they are animated) movies these days is that they seem to be created to appeal to kids of all ages.  Like Aladdin, Shrek, Finding Nemo and Kung Fu Panda before them, Up not only is receiving kudos from me, the movie received kudos in the form of an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

I was conversing about this movie with my cousin who confessed his girlfriend and he cried during the movie.  Since I had watched part one evening and the rest in another sitting, I forgot about crying.  So, when he asked me, I said, "no".  That was until he prompted me (I won't spoil it for you).  Then I remembered, "oh, yeah".  It was a good cry though.  If there is such a thing.  A good cry because this movie really made you feel the love.

I also loved how this movie, quite subtly, shows how the word "adventure" can be so subjective and doesn't need to necessarily mean flying around in your home with a huge bunch of helium filled baloons coming through your chimney in search of Paradise.

Or how someone you never feel could possibly assist you...does.

So, I am not so sure this is a movie I would watch twice.  However, it certainly was worthy of my time to view it once.  Thank you, Pixar.

P.S.  I found the credits clever and fun to watch.  How many movies can say that?

Movie 411:
Movie: Up
Screenplay Writer:  Bob Peterson, Pete Doctor, Thomas McCarthy
Director:  Pete Doctor
Film Editor:  Kevin Nolting
Plot:   By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.
Cast (top 3 from IMDB, click here to see more):  Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai

Take 13: The Hangover

Like my first Todd Phillips movie, Old School, I doubt I was the intended audience.  I'd venture to guess my sons, both in their twenties, would be the intended audience.  But funny is funny.  I loved Old School and while I didn't enjoy this movie quite as much, there was a lot here to laugh out loud at.

What I appreciate the most about this movie is that it could have been one sight gag after another without really feeling like a cohesive story unfolding.  Yet as "in the bright light of day" in any place but Vegas, much of what happens would seem so very, very implausible; somehow you buy it.

Plus, I have already seen this movie twice now about six months apart.  Enjoyed it and laughed both times.  

If you haven't seen this or even if you have, if you are in a place where you could use a burst of feeling funny this movie should do the trick.

Movie 411:

Movie:  The Hangover

Screenplay Writer:  Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

Director:  Todd Phillips

Film Editor:  Debra Neil-Fisher

Plot:  A comedy set in Las Vegas centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.

Cast (top 3 listed from IMDB, click here to see more):  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

Take 12: Cop Out

I was so excited when I saw the previews for this movie.  I am a "Die Hard" fan of Bruce Willis since his Dave days on Moonlighting.  I even loved him in Hudson Hawk, which I can assure you is a very small club.  This movie looked like a similar sort of "funny" vehicle for him.

I enjoy Tracy Morgan's crazy "act" even if it seems he always plays basically the same character.

And had I known that Kevin Smith, who immortalized the Eden Prairie Center in "Mallrats" and I from the beginning was a fan of "Jersey Girl" (how could you not love the late George Carlin or the Will Smith cameo in this flick?), was directing; I would have been at the movies on opening day to see "Cop Out".

So, maybe I was lucky I didn't know.  I probably would have been even more disappointed had I seen this movie opening day.  I'm trying to think of one...ahhh yes...there was one moment where I genuinely laughed out loud.  It had to do with a "Die Hard" movie reference, which I don't wish to spoil, just in case you still wish to see this movie after what I write.

Speaking of Die Hard, I thought for sure Die Hard 4 would be lame.  I liked it a lot.  And I thought Kevin Smith was awesome in the movie, as well.  Perhaps that's why Willis and Smith thought they would collaborate well together.  And as much as I love Mr. Willis, I actually enjoyed Kevin Smith's long time collaborating actor, Jason Lee more in this movie.  In my mind he was as welcome of a surprise as Kevin Smith's performance in Die Hard 4.  Both performances left me wanting more.

Anyway, as I have mentioned in other reviews, perhaps if I hadn't been so psyched and this was a tv movie choice at a time when despite all those channels this appeared to be the ONLY thing on, I may have liked this movie more.

One of my favorite Vince Vaughn lines from the movie Old School comes to mind as I finish this reel review, "You're better than that." (which apparently he also says in Fred Claus).

Movie 411:
Movie:  Cop Out
Screenplay Writer:  Mark Cullen, Robb Cullen
Director:  Kevin Smith
Film Editor:  Kevin Smith
Plot:  A comedy about a veteran NYPD cop whose rare baseball card is stolen. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his partner to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.
Cast (top 3 listed from IMDB, click here to see more):  Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernandez

Take 11: Avatar

When a movie gets as much hype as Avatar, I tend to want to run away as fast as I am able and not spend one moment of eyeball time on it.

The closer the Academy Awards got, the more I was curious.  And truth is, I didn't really want to like the movie.  So, I bet that last statement clues you in that I did like the movie.  I don't feel it was "all that"!  I do appreciate the effort that must have gone into the movie.  The story was interesting.  And with my own spiritual quest I feel I am on, I (as corny as others may think it is) appreciated the reminder to "see" others as the truth of who they are as children of a Divine Creator.

Since I am probably one of the last to see this movie (except perhaps my own mommy), I don't feel I really need to convince anyone to see this movie or not.  I am simply tossing in my own two cents worth. 

To quote a character from the Academy Award winning Best Picture, Forest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that."

Movie 411:
Movie:  Avatar
Screenplay Writer:  James Cameron
Director:  James Cameron
Film Editor:  James Cameron, John Refoua, Stephen E. Rivkin
Plot:  A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Cast (top 3 listed from IMDB, click here to see more):  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

Take 10: When In Rome

Normally, this type of movie is my go-to movie.  Meaning I'd rather watch a romantic comedy (they are funny and light, which keeps my energy light) than most genres.  Not to mention I've loved Josh Duhamel since "Win A Date With Tad Hamilton".  He's dreamy (please don't tell my boyfriend).  And I've loved Kristen Bell since "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".  So, I am not real sure why this flick did pretty much nothing for me.  But...it pretty much did nothing for me I am sad to say.

Of course, in the same way that I refuse to take a critics review as gospel whether I will like a movie or not, decide for yourself.  My taste isn't necessarily your taste.

And if perspective does play a factor (and I'm pretty convinced it does), perhaps if you wait to see this until it is on TV and it seems like your only choice for some mindless fluff (as that is the mood you happen to be in), then maybe...just maybe...you will enjoy this movie.

Movie 411:
Movie: When In Rome
Screenplay writer:  Mark Steven Johnson, David Diamond, David Weissman
Director:  Mark Steven Johnson
Film Editor:  Ryan Folsey
Plot:  Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, on a whirlwind trip to Rome, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of suitors.
Cast (top 3 listed from IMDB, click here to see more):  Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Angelica Huston