In this week’s “For You Renting Pleasure” we’re celebrating the letter B with Beasts of the Southern Wild and Butter. Sesame Street would be so proud. [Read more...]
For Your Renting Pleasure
01/23/2013 by Leave a Comment
Now Playing Review – Arthur
04/10/2011 by Leave a Comment
With the actors attached to this remake, Arthur does have a ton of moments of comedic magic, but this is not enough to completely overcompensate for the unsurprisingly overdone storyline.
The story follows Arthur, a bajillionaire who was born into money and now has no inclination to make his own. Living large as a playboy and partier, he has become an embarrassment to his mother as he frivolously tosses around her riches, forcing her to the point that she must give Arthur an ultimatum to get him into shape. The choice is this: either Arthur can marry the more responsible Susan, who will give the stockholders a feeling of stability that cannot be provided with Arthur in charge of the company, or he can lose his ties to the family fortune, leaving him with nothing. What seems to be an easy decision for a character such as this is made slightly more problematic when he meets the possible girl of his dreams. [Read more...]
Review: Arthur
04/08/2011 by 1 Comment
Arthur is a fine little romantic comedy that is fairly paint by numbers and doesn’t bring much new to the genre, but the cast makes it an entertaining enough affair that is worth watching if a fan of them.
The film is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name, which stared Dudley Moore, but I have never seen it so we won’t be comparing that here. This film stars Russell Brand in the title role as Arthur, who is a rich and perpetually functional drunk that is undereducated and has nothing to do but find ways to blow his family’s money. After his latest stunt causes faith in the family’s company’s future to drop, causing negative financial ripples, his mother arranges his marriage to a well-to-do heiress, Susan, whom will take over the company along with Arthur when the time comes. Arthur unfortunately has just met the potential love of his life, Naomi, and he is forced to juggle the two women as he will be cut off from his wealth if he does not marry Susan.
Now Playing Review – Valentine's Day
02/16/2010 by 1 Comment
I still stand behind the fact that I am not a fan of this day, but Valentine’s Day has at least warmed my heart enough to be capable of acknowledging it as an acceptable holiday. But just this once.
In a nutshell, Valentine’s Day takes a group of characters that tie together in simple ways and depicts the relationships in their lives, whether they be familial, budding romances, friendships, till death do you part relationships, or what have you. The stories are all familiar and never veer from what is expected of them (except for one storyline), but the humor and the majority of the casting are enough to keep it entertaining and enjoyable. With the predictable stories the film also occasionally dips into the cheesier elements of the romcom genre, but it was at least not as sappy as the trailers that were shown prior to the film. [Read more...]
Review: Valentine's Day
02/12/2010 by Leave a Comment
Valentine’s Day is a bunch of good actors, looking pretty, and doing decent work in paint by numbers plot and unimaginative entry into the rom-com genre; whose formula has been done much better in a few films still fresh in the memory.
Now, this film is bound to bring in the bank for a number of reasons; lots of big name stars, appropriately timed release over the romantic holiday weekend, and its familiar plot lines a plenty being peddled in the film’s trailer. Now beyond this surface assessment people can make from the trailer and the poster, the film will gel with audiences once in the theaters because it offers up plenty of comfort food for the average viewer in a multitude of so obviously planned elements it is almost laughable. This is how I imagine some of the production meeting going on this film;
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Review: The Invention Of Lying
10/12/2009 by Leave a Comment
Ricky Gervais makes his American writing and directing debut with the help of Matthew Robinson and the results are a dramedy that doesn’t deliver the laugh a minute pace you might be expecting, but it doesn’t try to and it works fairly well.
The premise of the film is very high concept and takes place in a world where everyone tells the brutal honest truth. They don’t hide things by just ignoring saying the things that might be inappropriate, they have no barometer for what is appropriate or not, they just say whatever is on their mind and believe everything everyone says because there are no lies. Our focus is on Mark Bellison, an average bloke who doesn’t have much money, no romantic prospects, and is probably at risk of losing his job. [Read more...]
Review: Ghost of Girlfriends Past
05/13/2009 by Leave a Comment
Connor Mead is a successful fashion photographer that jumps from woman to woman with no remorse at all as he shatters there heart. When Connor’s brother is set to get married, Connor heads up to their Uncle Wayne’s mansion where the two grew up after their parents were killed in an unfortunate auto accident. Uncle Wayne carried himself as Connor does in the present and was long Connor’s mentor until his eventual passing. Attending as the maid of honor at wedding is Connor’s old flame and possibly the only women he ever loved, Jenny, but those times are long in the rearview mirror for the “great Connor Mead”. Jenny and Connor quickly bounce back and forth against each other, butting heads, as Connor immediately reminds his brother it isn’t too late yet, while Jenny tries to shut him up and keep things on track for her friend the bride. As the rehearsal ends and a wedding eve party of some sorts kicks off, Connor encounters the ghost of his Uncle Wayne in the bathroom and warns him that he will be visited by the ghosts of his girlfriends past and that they will hopefully show him the way off the path he is heading and not ultimately end up like his good ole Uncle Wayne; who after countless women was ultimately alone. Without fail, Connor is visited by his first ever girlfriend and begins on a path to possible peace and redemption or a life being alone and leaving a sad existence behind. [Read more...]
Review: Juno
11/15/2007 by Leave a Comment
Talk about breaking a stereotype. Who would have thought that such a great film like Juno was written by an ex-advertiser/stripper/phone sex operator named Diablo Cody. But that is in fact what she has done and paired with one of the more capable young directors around, Jason Reitman, Juno might end up being the funniest film of the year. [Read more...]
