Hop

April 5.

Hop is cute. It does a great job of creating Easter folklore for the Easter Bunny like so many Christmas movies have done for Santa. But some of the charm of the great Christmas movies was just missing. I’m not exactly sure why.

Easter Island is as detailed as the North Pole. The chicks working in the candy shop are maybe even cuter than elves, and everything is fun and colorful. Maybe an Easter movie can never be like a Christmas movie because Christmas has a special feeling or because I heard stories about Santa my whole life and those movies just brought it to life rather than trying to create something new. Or maybe Hop just wasn’t a great movie.

The movie starts out good as it introduces the Easter Bunny and his son, E.B., who is supposed to become the Easter Bunny on his next birthday. E.B. isn’t interested in dedicating his life to hiding eggs and wants to become a famous drummer. So he sets off for Hollywood and the home of the Bunny’s – the Playboy Mansion. After getting turned away by Hef he hooks up with freeloader, Fred. There’s the whole part about Fred thinking he’s crazy and E.B. discovering how much fun it is and then how dangerous it is to be among the humans, etc.

The end is where Hop really falls apart though. It crams what should have taken half the movie into about 10 minutes and doesn’t really put an end to everything. And without ruining the ending, some humans seem to accept things a little too easily.

Rating: Ehh

The Illusionist (L'illusionniste)

March 12.

L'illusionniste is sad. That’s the way I felt the whole movie. Sure there’s a flash of the fun times the magician had when he had a successful act in Paris, but really it’s about his decline. I spent the whole movie waiting for the change, for something good to happen. It didn’t. On his way down, the illusionist spends some time in Scotland where he befriends a young girl, Alice. I thought this was where some happiness would come in. But Alice just seems selfish and unappreciative of his generosity.

Sometimes I enjoy movies like this, a story that is linear seems more honest and life doesn’t always have a happy ending. So maybe it was my mood or maybe I was waiting for some of the silliness that was in The Triplets of Belleville, but it just felt a little empty.

Rating: Ehh

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

February 14.

The whole world is raving about the book and movie trilogy that starts with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I guess I just missed something.

The story wasn't even about the girl. When the movie flashed to her life it was just one disturbing image after another, but I never really got why I was supposed to care. And her tattoo, was there even a tattoo?

The secondary story, which was the real story, was interesting, but not much more than a good episode of CSI Stockholm.

So although the Swedish movie held my interest I refuse to see part two and don't really think I'll run out to see the American version.

Rating: Ehh

The Heart Specialist

January 16.

The Heart Specialist is almost a good movie. It’s kinda funny and sort of touching. But I had a hard time getting passed the bad production and the choppiness.

The story follows a Harvard Medical School graduate to an internship in Miami where his ex-girlfriend now lives. Ray becomes friends with Sidney, the chief resident and a woman, who is kind of Sidney’s girlfriend, I think, played by Zoe Saldana. The movie quickly becomes about Sidney, who is a writer and a comedian in addition to being a doctor.

I don’t think every movie should be a mystery but when the story is building up to a reveal that I figured out 40 minutes ago I tend to get annoyed. So I won’t say what the big surprise is here, but if you watch the movie you will know long before you’re told.

Rating: Ehh

A Room with a View

April 11.

I caught the Masterpiece Theatre version of E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" on PBS. (I heart PBS) I had, of course, heard of the book, but hadn't read it or seen any of the film adaptations.

I could tell the story, about a British girl living in Edwardian England and visiting Florence, Italy, was something I should love, but the movie didn't quite work. I've seen many Masterpiece Theatre movies and always loved them. Masterpiece's "Pride and Prejudice" may be the best adaptation of that story. But, this one felt rushed and not complete.

I read that there is an Oscar-nominated version starring Helena Bonham Carter from the 80s, so, I added that to my Netflix queue. I hope that version does a better job of telling the whole story. Maybe I'll have to skip the movies and pick up the book.

Alice in Wonderland

March 20.

My expectations weren't really high for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." I wanted to like it, visually it looked amazing, but Burton has disappointed me before. Boba agreed to go even though I think she expected less than I did. We made our way to The Palms so we could see it in IMAX 3D and with no signs of Jimmy D, we settled in for what turned out to be an unnecessary sequel to the beloved story.

It was, as expected, visually interesting. But, I didn't like the back story given to any of the characters, and the Mad Hatter was the most depressing. The charm of Lewis Carroll's original is the nonsense of it all. This adaptation answered questions I didn't have and jumbled characters and scenes I always loved.

Johnny Depp and Burton have made some memorable movies together. But the last few years have been a letdown. Maybe they should take a break.

Wall Street

March 20.

"Wall Street" is one of those movies I kind of knew about but never saw because I was 8 when it came out and don't have much interest in finance, but I saw Shia LeBeouf talking about the soon-to-be released sequel and thought it might be interesting. (Although, part two was supposed to be in theaters already and was held up for some reason, always a bad sign.)

"Wall Street" kept my interest but I didn't find myself rooting for any of the characters. Charlie Sheen played the young broker, Bud Fox, who was trying to break into the world of the stock market. He didn't come across as special, intelligent, or likeable and I wasn't hoping he'd succeed. Michael Douglas was Gordon Gekko, the successful mentor who let Bud into the realm of the yuppie. He wasn't very likeable either, but he wasn't supposed to be liked. His character was a bit one-dimensional but a good villain can be fun.

This movie is so dated it was uncomfortable. There was even a classic montage featuring Daryl Hannah, who played Bud's girlfriend and interior designer, transforming his Upper East Side apartment into a palace of pastel and paint splatter. Ah, the 80s.

Remember Me

March 13.

Let me start by saying "Remember Me" wasn't great. It seemed to need some editing, but the story and characters are haunting me. Maybe it's because I didn't realize what it was about and didn't see what was coming, but I almost feel like I need to see it again after knowing how it ends.

I've only ever seen Robert Pattinson as a child in "Harry Potter," but I thought he was really good as Tyler. And he did a great American accent. Emilie de Ravin, who plays his love interest Ally, I know well as Claire in "Lost". I had a little trouble buying the Aussie actress as an American girl who grew up in Queens, but oh, well.

The story took so many turns, and centered around so many people I felt like it should have been a miniseries, but I liked the characters and wanted to know them more. I was never bored and wasn't ready for it to end. Even though, in the last few moments I knew there was no where else for it to go.

New York, I Love You

March 6.

You'd think with my love of New York and movies I would have seen "New York, I Love You" in the theater, but I didn't. I saw "Paris je t'aime," which is also made up of shorts set in the cities named in their respective titles. I loved "Paris" and intended to see "New York," so when Boba recommended it I bumped it on Netflix and got to it.

It was a little different than "Paris" because the people and scenes sometimes crossed but the fragmented stories, each with a glimpse into a moment of someone's life, was there. I, of course, liked some stories more than others. My favorite centered around an old, married couple played by Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach. It was sweet, a bit sad, and funny.

Although overall I liked the movie it didn't feel as New York to me as "Paris je t'aime" felt French. Maybe that's because I've only been to Paris once and don't really know what it's like. Most of "New York" seemed dark and frenzied. And New York City may be the latter, but, in my experience, it can be bright and fun, too.

Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)

January 16.

I haven't seen a lot of Spanish cinema, but the movies I've seen all look like they were made in 1992. The colors, character's styles, sets are all faded. This doesn't mean it can't still be a good movie, but the other thing I've noticed is although the story is interesting the movie would fit in nicely on Lifetime.

"Los Abrazos Rotos," starting Penelope Cruz and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, follows these trends. The story is of a blind director, played by Lluís Homar, who is taken care of by his friend and her son. Cruz is part of his past and only appears in flashbacks. The story is interesting, just like some movies of the week are interesting, but I don't think it's a "love poem to cinema" as one reviewer called it.

I feel like the drama was a bit misplaced, too. I know Americans and Europeans think differently about some things, but when Homar's friend, played by Blanca Portillo, tells her son that Homar is actually his father he laughs and then they cut to the next scene. I just didn't really get this movie I guess.