Bridesmaids (2011)

Tags

Bridesmaids, Chris O'Dowd, Comedy, Ellie Kemper, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Movie, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey

I brought the toilet paper this time...

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Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jon Hamm

Annie:  Let’s change the subject.  No more baking…I’m done.
Nathan:  I don’t know how you just can’t do it anymore.  If I wasn’t a cop anymore…I would still go out…with a gun…and shoot people.

Annie’s (Wiig) best friend, Lillian (Rudolph), is getting married and asks Annie to be her Maid of Honor.  Unfortunately for Annie, she’s got some competition for the job from one of Lillian’s newer friends, Helen (Byrne).

A little tamer than I was expecting after some of the press it got, but certainly better than average as far as comedies go.

Not that there aren’t some over the top scenes, particularly the dress shop food poisoning scene, which is easily the funniest in the movie.  That’s the big laugh, but Wiig and Rudolph supply several other giggles, chuckles, and smirks along the way in the more subtle moments, many of which probably involved some improv.

That brings me to one of my few gripes with the movie.  The improv scenes sometimes went on a little too long.  That seems to be the case with most Apatow (he produced this one) related movies.  They end up being overlong because so much material was filmed and left in.  It’s hard to sustain comedy for a solid hour and a half, so at over 2 hours, you’ve got to expect some lulls in this one.

Overall, though, it is funny and it maintained my interest.  Kristen Wiig is a likable performer, as is Maya Rudolph, and if you read my last review of X-Men: First Class, you’ll know of my love for Rose Byrne.  While I prefer to see her in more sympathetic roles, it’s still her, and she’s clearly having fun playing something out of the norm.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Melissa McCarthy’s shameless performance.  She isn’t afraid to look and sound terrible throughout, and that resulted in many of the bigger laughs.  So bravo to her.  If you only know her as Sookie from Gilmore Girls, get ready for quite a change in character type.

A little bit more editing could have made this one pretty great.  As is, it’s still an enjoyable time with some funny women.

Never give up a career in baking.

10 – 1.3 for being a bit overlong – 1.7 for some parts just not being all that funny to me = 7.0

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Tags

Action, Drama, James McAvoy, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Michael Fassbender, Movie, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Rose Byrne, Science Fiction, X Men First Class

damn paparazzi...no pictures!

PG-13

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult

Stryker:  There is a war coming, John.
McCone:  Yes, but a war with who?
Emma Frost:  Excellent question…though I wouldn’t call it a war, exactly.  That suggests that both sides stand an equal chance of winning.

Erick Lehnsherr (Fassbender), who will later become known as Magneto, is out for revenge on the man, Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), who killed his mother.  Along the way, he crosses paths with another mutant, Charles Xavier (McAvoy).  Together they recruit other mutants while Shaw plots to start World War III.

Slightly better than the first X-Men, not as good as the second one, and…well, we won’t even mention the third one.

There are moments here that are very good, and I definitely liked most of the casting, but at times it just feels overlong.  It gets bogged down with too much “mutant and proud” talk.  That territory has been covered quite extensively in the other movies, and while it’s certainly relevant to the young mutants here, that doesn’t make it any more fresh.

The other thing that didn’t work too well for me was Kevin Bacon as the villain.  His presence seemed too gimmicky, which undermined the seriousness of the movie.

Now on to the things that I did like.  Rose Byrne.  If you’ve read my other reviews, you may know of my love for Rose Byrne.  This movie did nothing to change that love.  She’s awesome.  McAvoy and Fassbender are good too, and the younger mutants are played well enough.  Michael Ironside even makes an appearance near the end of the movie, which is always a welcome sight.

One quick aside about the cast though.  In a movie that’s all about promoting the acceptance of everybody no matter what their appearance…there are not a whole lot of minorities present.  Plus…I don’t want to be Mr. Spoiler, but…they kill off the black guy first…seriously?  And then the other minority character is the first to turn into a villain with very little persuasion needed.  Even for something set in the 60s, it’s a very white movie.

But hey, there’s some good drama, good action, a few funny moments, and…well, Rose Byrne.

What more do you need?

Mutant and proud!

10 – .6 because I didn’t like Kevin Bacon as the villain – 1.7 for getting bogged down in too many repetitive scenes  = 7.7

Insidious (2010)

Tags

Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey, Drama, Horror, Insidious, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye, Movie, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins

I don't want to alarm you, but there's a Star Wars geek behind you dressed up as Darth Maul or something...

PG-13

Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson

Josh:  First line of a joke, right?  Guy comes home and finds his wife with a priest?

Not long after moving into a new house, a family starts experiencing strange phenomenon.  After young Dalton (Simpkins) slips into some sort of mysterious coma, the odd occurrences begin to escalate.

For this review, I did something that I did before with Iron Man 2.  I just wrote down my thoughts as I watched the movie.  I tried to keep it spoiler free, but there’s probably some story elements revealed along the way, so read at your own risk.  Not that there’s much to spoil in this movie…

Without FURTHER ado…

Okay, creepy-ish face right from the get-go…not bad.

Ah, Rose Byrne…I do love me some Rose Byrne…

And now she’s singing!

Only in the movies do kids go exploring dark attics right after doors mysteriously open by themselves.

I like that the parents seem nice and get along.

Was I supposed to see something outside that window??  What were we focusing on there…?

Bad acting, doc, bad acting.

See, this is why I would never want a baby monitor.  If it’s not picking up aliens, it’s picking up ghostly voices.

Yeah kid, I’d be a little scared of your comatose brother walking around at night too.

They have the creakiest creaky wood floors ever!

Okay, this is officially enough weird stuff happening to warrant moving out of the house immediately.

Please tell me they at least called the police after all of that!

Aaaaaand, they’re still in the house.

Oh boy, here we go…same ol’ plot device…the wife/mom is always the one who knows something strange is afoot, while the husband doubts it and/or doesn’t want to deal with it.

Uh oh, he said the F word.

Yay, they’re leaving the house!  ‘Bout time.  But I’m guessing moving doesn’t help.  Not against…Insidious!

Tiny Tim music?  Okay, that IS frightening.

Creepy kids running about?  Time to try a hotel maybe?

Who is this lady?

Uh oh, Specs and Tucker…the comedy relief paranormal investigators!  Let the funny begin!

It’s funny ’cause they’re geeks and they like Star Trek and stuff…

Seriously, can Insidious go ahead and kill them now?

Ooooh, that other lady is Patrick Wilson’s mother…I should have figured that out.

Elise has arrived!  I can’t wait for the part where she declares “this house is clean.”

The Further?  What the WHAT??

Way to astro-travel, Dalton, sheesh.

“It’s a little unorthodox.”  Ya don’t say…

Here we go again, the dad still doesn’t think anything strange is going on?  What about all the shizz he’s seen go down already??

Oh c’mon movie, you’re better than this.

Okay good, back on track a bit…

Finally, all heck breaks loose!

This has potential…

She’s the Dr. Seuss of psychics.  “Now you’re outside, let my voice be your guide, keep a steady stride…into the Further you go.”

Ugh…did he wander into Disney’s Haunted Mansion?  This is getting silly.

Okay, the train is officially off the tracks.  This has turned laughable.

How did he-…what happened to the-…where did-…what’s going on??

Bad movie!  No!  Bad!  Go to your room!  You sit there and think about what you’ve done!

And don’t come out until you’re ready to apologize!!

Rose Byrne deserves better roles than this…

10 – 1 for recycling so many scary movie cliches and telegraphing most of the scares – 3 for that horrible, awful, silly ending – .4 for kind of not being made all that well (technically speaking) = 5.6

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Tags

Colm Meaney, Comedy, Elisabeth Moss, Get Him to the Greek, Jonah Hill, Movie, Rose Byrne, Russell Brand, Sean Combs

I mean, clearly people would rather watch me than him or Jonah, right?

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Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss, Sean Combs, Colm Meaney

Sergio: Do you like his music?
Aaron: I LOVE his music.  Except for African Child.  That album sucked.
Sergio: No, you love Africa Child!  Your mother loves African Child.  It’s your girlfriend’s favorite album.  You love African Child.  You bought 10 copies on the first day.
Aaron: Oh…okay, yeah, I love African Child.  So, lie to him.
Sergio: No, we don’t lie to people.  We don’t do that.  We just believe invalid truths.

Aaron (Hill) is a lower level worker at a record company who suggests getting washed up rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) to perform a big concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles.  The idea is approved, which means Aaron must go to England and get the depressed, constantly partying Snow to Los Angeles in time for the concert.

I guess some characters are just funnier in small doses.  Not that this movie isn’t funny at times, because it is.  It’s just that it started to really wear me down after a while.  Russel Brand was funny as Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I just don’t think the character is quite interesting enough to carry a movie.  Close, but not quite.

It’s a typical setup, with a more straight laced character having to deal with a wild, troublesome character who introduces him to a lot of new experiences, most of which our hero can’t handle.  Jonah Hill is not bad in this role, but he’s not exactly my favorite actor, so I wasn’t too thrilled about watching him for an hour and 45 minutes.

Still, the first half of the movie had me laughing at a fairly steady rate.  The problem is, it just degenerates into a lot of yelling, drug use, and awkward sex humor.  It got really obnoxious to watch at times, even though there were still a few laughs sprinkled in there.

I’d place this one somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as recent comedies go.  There’s just not enough material here to work with, thus it becomes repetitive and tiresome after a while.  Hopefully the Aldous Snow character’s story has been told and there won’t be a sequel.  Though, I wouldn’t mind seeing Rose Byrne get her own movie as Aldous’ girlfriend, Jackie Q.  I could watch Rose in just about anything.

Drugs are bad, mkay?

10 – 3 for the second half filled with yelling and attempts at zaniness that just don’t work – 1.1 for the two lead characters just not being able to really carry a film = 5.9

Sunshine (2007)

Tags

Benedict Wong, Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Drama, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michelle Yeoh, Movie, Rose Byrne, Science Fiction, Sunshine, Troy Garity

you were able to download the latest episode of America's Next Top Model?? play it, play it!!

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Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Troy Garity

Cassie: It’s different…being afraid that you won’t make it back home…and then knowing that you won’t…

A crew of 8 astronauts is on a mission to the Sun.  The Sun is dying, but the “stellar bomb” carried by their spacecraft will hopefully reignite it and bring the Earth out of the icy grave it has been descending into.

On the surface, this is nothing more than a silly science fiction movie with a questionable scientific premise and the usual collection of personalities on board a spacecraft.  For some reason, though, this works well.  At least, for most of the movie it does.

Why does it work?  Well, first of all, you get good performances from most everybody, especially Murphy and Yeoh.  Also, even if Cassie isn’t a totally believable character, Rose Byrne is a plus because…well, I think I’ve adequately expressed my adoration for her in my review of Adam.

Another reason the movie works is that director Danny Boyle presents everything with the respect and sense of awe that it deserves.  I particularly liked a short scene where they all gather anxiously in the observation area in order to get a glimpse of the planet Mercury.  It’s just a little ball of rock zipping around the Sun, but for them it’s beautiful.  Those emotions come right out of the screen and into my head, as does the seriousness of the mission these people are on.  So much so that any time that mission (and their lives) was threatened, I found myself tensing up as though my own future was riding on their success or failure.

Sound over-dramatic?  Eh, probably, but that’s what a good movie does.  It pulls you into its story.

Admittedly, the last 10-15 minutes is not as cerebral or realistic as the rest of the movie, but that ending didn’t ruin it for me like it did for some other people.  I’d rather have seen some good philosophical conversations than the theatrical thrills that are presented, but maybe there was enough of that philosophical stuff early on to justify more of a slam-bang finale.

Always remember to recalculate your ship’s shield angles when you alter the course you’re taking to get to the Sun.

10 – .7 for lacking some originality in story and characters – .3 for that questionable science – 1 for the end devolving into action thrill mode = 8.0

Adam (2009)

Tags

Adam, Amy Irving, Comedy, Drama, Frankie Faison, Hugh Dancy, Movie, Peter Gallagher, Romance, Rose Byrne

they said you were spacey, but this is ridiculous...

PG-13

Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison

Beth: Some nerve, right?  Calling a school in the middle of Manhattan “Wildwood”??

Adam (Dancy) is an Asperger’s Syndrome sufferer living on his own for the first time after his father passes away.  When Beth (Byrne) moves in upstairs and befriends Adam, he’s forced to break out of his sheltered life if he wants to continue seeing this new woman he’s taken a liking to.

Occasionally a movie comes along that is otherwise average but gets elevated quite a bit by a performer that I find so charming that the whole feel of the movie is enhanced by their presence.  This is one of those movies, and Rose Byrne is one of those performers.  I adore her and could probably watch her in anything.  I’m not sure it’s even her performance exactly that’s so great, it’s just her.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the movie.  It’s not bad.  It all seems a little familiar, but Dancy and Byrne are good together, and there’s a certain simple, believable sweetness to their relationship.  Some of the dramatic turns seem contrived, but it never really goes overboard.  Plus, the ending isn’t all sappy and formulaic, which is good.

I can’t help but feel that the movie walks a bit of a tightrope with how it portrays Adam, though.  For the most part it seems like an attempt at a realistic portrayal of somebody dealing with this disorder, but occasionally in creeps that sort of innocent wisdom that enlightens all those around him aspect of movies featuring characters like this.  Almost like Adam is an E.T. type character that shows up, enriches their lives in some ways while showing them new truths, then moves on.  Thankfully that’s only present in small doses here and there, but the opening narration from Beth about Adam being like the The Little Prince had me worried.

All in all, I don’t think this movie is going to change anybody’s life, but it’s pleasant, amusing, and hopeful without being corny.  Plus…ya know…Rose Byrne’s in it…

As long as you’re attractive, women can overlook your crippling social awkwardness.

10 – 1.5 for some subplots that weren’t all that compelling – 1.1 for the story not being particularly original + .2 for Rose = 7.6

The Rage in Placid Lake (2003)

Tags

Ben Lee, Comedy, Miranda Richardson, Movie, Romance, Rose Byrne, The Rage in Placid Lake

why is this movie not about ME?

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Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson

Placid Lake: You hate that guy, don’t you?
Joel: If I could get away with it, I’d kill him, have his windpipe bronzed and wear it on a chain around my neck.

Placid Lake (Lee) is an odd child, with two free-spirited, non-violent parents.  Placid is picked on constantly throughout school, and his only true friend is Gemma (Byrne), who he’s had a platonic relationship with since they were very little.  After he’s out of school, Placid decides to rebel against his parents, conform to society, and get a job at an insurance company.  Meanwhile, Gemma – who’s always been a much more studious type than Placid – is starting to think that she’d rather explore more of herself than the bookish scientist role that her father has channeled her into.

I think I can trace my general annoyance with this movie directly to the lead performance by Ben Lee.  Placid Lake is not very likable.  Sure he got picked on a lot, for no real reason, but that doesn’t give him license to be such a selfish jerk all the time.  The character and the performance just rubbed me the wrong way.

Thankfully, Rose Byrne is also in the movie, and her cuteness and likability balances things out.  I’d rather have seen a movie all about her.  Miranda Richardson is entertaining as Placid’s mother, and I thought Christopher Stollery was particularly good in a subtle performance as Placid’s boss at the insurance company.  He’s funny, but there’s also a certain sadness to his performance as a guy who’s been broken down by the corporate world and wants to live vicariously through whatever excitement Placid might have in his life.

The idea of someone rebelling against their wild parents by becoming a buttoned down business type is reasonably funny, but it also got old pretty fast.  Plus, the outcome of that story line, as well as the one involving Placid and Gemma, is entirely predictable.  There are some funny moments along the way, but it’s all moving towards one dull, inevitable conclusion.

Don’t jump off of buildings.  You’ll break bones.

10 – 2.1 for the annoying lead character/performances – 1.7 for being overly predictable – .4 for being a little too repetitive with its themes + .2 for Rose Byrne = 6.0