In Time

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  In a world where time is literally money, which when you run out of it you die, Justin Timberlake is given a hundred years by a suicidal man, which he uses to infiltrate the rich neighborhood, before being accused of stealing the time, at which point he kidnaps the richest man's daughter (Amanda Seyfried), and goes on the lam, while giving every hour he can back to the poor people in his ghetto neighborhood.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, Matt Bomer, Collins Pennie, Toby Hemingway, Yaya DeCosta, Brendan Miller, Ethan Peck

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  A really interesting premise gets lost inside of what becomes a never ending chase scene.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  The only joke I remember is Amanda Seyfried accidentally firing off a gun-- haha, somebody got shot.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  A lot of main characters die at the beginning, middle, and end, so-- no.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  When I was at Comic Con, the preview for this movie was By Far the Best Preview I Saw in Hall H... Which makes it that much more disappointing that the film didn't live up to its promise.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Justin Timberlake plays a character called Will Salas, but he might as well have been called Justin Timberlake because you never stop thinking you're watching Justin Timberlake.  Amanda Seyfried is cute and strong as always.  And how is Cillian Murphy not a bigger star by now?... Oh, yeah, because 50% of the roles he picks are cross-dressers.  At least he recognizes that he looks hot as a woman.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  The...  Pace.... In...  Certain... Sections.... Is... Sooooooo...  Slowwww... That...  I... Started... To... Fall... Aslee--zz-zz-zz...

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  The story starts out interesting, as you learn about the whats, hows, and whys of this world, which aims to parallel the division of wealth in our own society between the 1% and the 99%.  Then Justin Timberlake is given a whole lot of time, which he wants to use to bring down the 1% by giving it back to the 99%.  But when he gets accused of stealing that time, the script goes in a direction that doesn't take advantage of the interesting dynamic that has been set up.  The minute police take all his time, and he goes on the run.  I would've liked to see this premise go in more of a "clever mind game" direction, and less in a "who can run the fastest" direction.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: In Time Trailer

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Martha Marcy May Marlene

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  You can take the girl out of the cult, but you can't take the cult out of the girl.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy, Maria Dizzia, Louisa Krause, Brady Corbet, Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  Interesting subject matter.  Interesting character study. I have no idea what I was supposed to think happened at the end.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  It was developed at the Sundance Institute, so I'll give you one guess, and the answer isn't "yes."

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  It's more likely to cause the deep pondering of questions like: "Why do people fall for cults?"  "How do they find them?" And, "How are they so easily brainwashed?"... I guess my parents were too loving for me to ever understand the answers to questions like these.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  Director Sean Durkin won his category at Sundance, and it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, but lost out to the previous movie I saw, Like Crazy.  Still, even the nomination looks a little bit like self-nepotism.  If you develop a movie, is it really fair to nominate yourself for a prize?

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Elizabeth Olsen gives a star making performance, but I knew that before I even saw the movie because of all the press and hype that's been surrounding her since last January.  What I didn't know is that she would be so interesting, that I would find myself struggling with how exactly she's related to her sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  Despite Sundance nominating itself for prizes, Sean Durkin actually does deserve recognition.  He seamlessly shifts between the past at the cult and the present at a Lake House, using color schemes and clever editing that has your brain working just the right amount throughout, as you try to keep up with where each scene is taking place.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  Mostly, I just wish I understood what I was supposed to take from it.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Martha Marcy May Marlene Trailer

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Like Crazy

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  An American boy (Anton Yelchin) falls in love with a British student (Felicity Jones), and before they know it they become star-crossed by immigration problems, when she can't get back into the country.  Stuck in a long distance relationship that can only exist on her side of the pond, they must now decide if it is worth it or not to give up on the love of their lives.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston, Oliver Muirhead, Finola Hughes, Ben York Jones, Chris Messina, Jamie Thomas King, Amanda Carlin

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  I am torn between my respect for the art that they attempted to create and my feeling that the end result is rather trite.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  The entire movie is improvised.  It turns out that the word "improv" isn't always followed by "comedy."

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  It's been so long since I was in love with anybody, that I can't personally relate to these emotions. Maybe you could be the judge and get back to me.  Thanks!

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  So far it has won every award it's been nominated for, which includes 2 prizes each for the lead actors, Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, which only re-iterates how little I understand about what that high mountains altitude can do to your taste in movies.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Improvisation always makes the actors look good.  How can you not be in the moment when you don't have to memorize other people's words and say them back as if they are your own?  When you improvise, the words are your own.  So all you're doing is having a made up conversation, like when you were 4.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  The directing is intimate and interesting, but the credit clearly belongs as much to the cinematographer and the editor in this case, as it does to the director, because when it's all improvised, the camera guy has to figure it all out on the fly, and the editor has to take those 70 hours of footage and turn them into something cohesive... Kind of like on a reality show.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  The couple meets when she leaves a four page love letter on his car windshield, which we never get to read or hear.  Their love develops through a series of shots of them writing silly notes to each other, which we never get to see.  Many other standard moments are left out, too, like their first kiss, and any clue as to why they like each other.  Apparently the script was a 50 page detailed outline, with character back-stories, emotions, and beginnings, middles,  and ends to each scene, but no dialogue whatsoever.  Again, I am torn between my respect for the risks the filmmakers took in doing it this way, and my feelings for how the story turned out.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Like Crazy Trailer

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The Big Year

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  Three guys compete in the Big Year competition, which consists of attempting to look at the largest variety of birds between January 1st and December 31st of any year.  You don't have to take pictures or have any kind of proof to win, you just have to say you saw them.  Very un-American.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Jack Black, Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Rachida Jones, Rosamund Pike, Diane Weist, Brian Dennehy, Joel McHale, Kevin Pollak, JoBeth Williams, Anjelica Houston, Jim Parsons, Paul Campbell, Anthony Anderson, Tim Blake Nelson, Cindy Busby, Steven Weber, Andrew Wilson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Stop!  This movie wrongly assumes that anyone cares about birds, or watching them.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  Well, Owen Wilson's nose does still look like a phallic symbol.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  I had a vulnerable moment around a baby's name, and that's how I remembered that I needed to stop by the store on the way home and pick up some feminine hygiene products.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  I remember reading that this story was set up at a studio and thinking, "Why?  How could that possibly be interesting?"  Then I read that Steve Martin and Jack Black and Owen Wilson were in it, and I thought, "There must be something I don't know about it that makes it interesting."  And then I read that it was based on a book, so I imagined that there had to be something interesting about the book that made them want to turn it into a movie...  Well after all that, I'd like to give myself the "I Was Right" Award. And that's why it's important to always go with your first instinct.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Nothing wrong with it... except that these people thought this film was a good use of their talents.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  Really, David Frankel?  You're gonna go from The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me to a movie about people who ruin everything in their lives so they can run around looking at birds?  I have nothing more to say on the matter.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  It's naively hopeful to think that a competition about looking at bird varietals across America could be relatable to anyone who isn't already a birder, so when these guys risk their relationships and jobs over it, they look pretty bird-brained-- and not in a funny way, just in an idiot way.  What I'm saying is that the stakes are terrible.  And normally before making a movie, producers look into the size of the built-in audience, but come on now, how many people in the world really care about birds that aren't marinated in a balsamic reduction? 

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A:  Somebody please remind me not to see the movie formerly known as Everybody Loves Whales.   My gut instinct was the same when I read about that movie getting set up at a studio as when I read about this one.  I've seen the trailer for it now, too (currently -- and forgettably -- entitled Big Miracle), and I have a strong feeling that it's going to have exactly these same problems as Big Year, because  everybody doesn't love whales, either!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Big Year Trailer

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Footloose

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  Based on the older and wiser movie of the same name, the new kid in town (Kenny Wormald)  is shocked to learn that public dancing under the age of 18 is illegal.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell, Miles Teller, Ray McKinnon, Patrick John Flueger, Kim Dickens, Ziah Colon, Ser'Darius Blain, L. Warren Young, Brett Rice, Maggie Jones, Mary-Charles Jones, Enisha Brewster

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  This movie is neither sexy enough nor cheesy enough.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  Like I said, it's not cheesy enough.  If it had taken itself a little less seriously and gone for the "so bad it's good" category, it could have had me rolling out of my seat in uncomfortable laughter.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  The friend I saw it with admitted to a couple of moments of getting teary-eyed, but she also admitted to being on diet pills, and I hear those make you emotional.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  Yes, the I Miss Kevin Bacon Award-- which is especially surprising when you consider that Kevin Bacon is in so many movies, that you hardly have time to miss him... But oh, how I do!

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Kenny Wormald is-- I miss Kevin Bacon.  Dennis Quaid is a brave man to attempt to take on a role previously played by John Lithgow.  And did you know that Andie MacDowell is in this movie?  Neither did I, and I watched it.  Miles Teller in the Chris Penn role is the only one who comes close to matching his predecessor's energy.  That is not counting Julianne Hough, who blows Lori Singer's Ariel out of the water...  But I never did like Lori Singer.  Probably because she got to kiss Kevin Bacon.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  As much as I loved Hustle & Flow, the directing on Footloose does not make Craig Brewer appear to know what he's doing.  The dance scenes are poorly choreographed-- I think-- it's hard to tell because they are shot and edited so haphazardly that you can hardly tell what's going on in them.  The director basically uses wide shots, often from high angles, or tight close-ups in which you can't see how anyone's body is moving.  The only dance shots that work are the ones that I recognized as  lifted directly from the original movie.  You'll have to trust me on this because despite the fact that I haven't seen it since 1984, I'm something of an expert on the original Footloose.  You see, I wrote a book report on it.  Yeah, for school.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  They added some back story and took out all the sexiness.  I don't think they meant to, but  I sure do miss Kevin Bacon.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A:  They paid homage to many of the important songs from the original, Footloose, I Need a Hero, Let's Hear it for the Boy, Almost Paradise, but in many cases the remake versions of these songs leave you feeling tantric, like you're almost where you want to be, but you're pretty sure you're never gonna get there.   On the positive side, one of the original songs used was by one of my favorite new indie artists, Lissie, and it fit very well.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Footloose Trailer

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The Ides of March

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  As we go behind the scenes of the idealistic campaign of a hopey-changey Democratic Presidential candidate, we are exposed to just how dirty politicians have to get if they want to win elections.  It's disgusting and disheartening.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Even Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, Jennifer Ehle, Gregory Itzin, Michael Mantell

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Go!  The hopeful politics preached at the beginning are depressing.  You listen to this driveling propaganda, wishing that it could be real, but knowing in your heart that politicians themselves will ruin anything positive before it gets a chance of happening. Then the intrigue begins, and the story goes from being a platform for George Clooney's personal politics to an exciting mind-twisting political thriller that you can't figure out how to solve. 

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  This film has the darkest, driest funny line I have heard in a movie all year.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one in my showing who even got that it was funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  Not out loud, but oh so much...  How soon 'til we get to throw out every single person in Washington and start over, please?

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  If Ryan Gosling gets an Acting nomination, I hope it's for this one and not for Drive.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Ryan Gosling is quickly becoming the Robert DeNiro of our time-- by which I mean that every actor in every acting class will start saying they aspire to be as good as him.  George Clooney is completely forgettable, as usual-- by which I mean, this is why he never made it as a "movie star." And Paul Giamatti, as much as I love him, has a scene where he totally overacts.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The directing in the opening scene had my mind buzzing with questions about why certain angles were being chosen, but before long, George Clooney reminds us that he's significantly more memorable behind the camera than in front of it.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  Not only are the plot twists unexpected, but many moments of dialogue are mind-boggling, too.  Don't know how much of this was lifted directly from Beau Willimon's play, "Farragut North," but since he co-wrote the script, I'm just gonna be happy that Aaron Sorkin's not the only one who can write stuff this good.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Ides of March Trailer

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50/50

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  A 27-year-old guy (Joseph Gordon Levitt) discovers he has cancer, with a 50/50 chance of survival.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Serge Houde, Andrew Airlie, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Sugar Lyn Beard, Sarah Smyth

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  A lot of people are hyping up this movie, but I think it may be because it's inspired by the true story of writer Will Reiser's actual cancer, and they feel like they have to say good things about it because, shit, the guy had cancer!

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  Seth Rogen does his schtick, and it works, but guess what?  Cancer's not funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  There is one moment that almost got me, and surprisingly, it was a shot of a book.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  It will most likely win a Golden Globe for Best Comedy because it's not funny.  I've noticed that Awards shows don't like to recognize sense of humor as an award-worthy skill, so if they can find a project that was marketed as a comedy, even though it's not, they feel more dignified giving an award to that.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is impeccable, as always.  This is by far Anna Kendrick's best performance ever.  And Seth Rogen is perfectly cast in the role of himself-- really, his character is based on the real life him.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  Jonathan Levine finds ways to be interesting even in the most mundane of shots.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  There's nothing wrong with it, but ultimately it's just like watching someone go through cancer, and as the friend who turned me down to go to this movie with me said, "Don't we do that enough in our real lives?"

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: 50/50 Trailer

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What's Your Number?

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  When a girl (Anna Faris) finds out that the number of men she's slept with is considered high, she decides to go back through her ex's and try to marry one of them rather than sleeping with yet another guy.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner, Ed Begley Jr., Dave Annable, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Heather Burns, Eliza Coupe, Kate Simses, Tika Sumpter, Joel McHale, Jacquelyn Doucette, Chris Pratt, Denise Vasi, Zachary Quinto, Mike Vogel, Martin Freeman, Andy Samberg, Thomas Lennon, Anthony Mackie, Ivana Milicevic, Aziz Ansari

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  Proceed with Caution.  There are a lot of "cute" moments, but they are surrounded by lines that are too cheesy or plot points that are too unbelievable, so you never buy into the premise completely.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  Aside from a few shots of unnecessary nudity, you can't help but wonder why they decided to make this cutesy rom-com rated "R."  That said, the few truly funny jokes do fit into the "R" category, they just don't fit into the rest of the script.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: In regards to this, my number is zero.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  In this category it will also remain a virgin.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Anna Faris is at her best when she gets to do really broad, over the top comedy.  She doesn't get to do a lot of that here.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  Anna Faris doesn't look pretty in 90% of the film.  Rather than blame the fact that she's not aging well, I'm gonna blame the director for not looking out.  But only because there were so many other things that bugged me about his work, like rack focus shots that forgot to rack, and other such instances of random blurriness.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  The two writers Gabrielle Allan & Jennifer Crittenden come from the very top of TV...  Jennifer Crittenden has written for Arrested Development, The Simpsons, and Seinfeld (to name a few impressive shows), and Gabrielle Allan is a name I'm familiar with because, not only did she write for Scrubs, but she wrote pretty much every episode that was good enough to get me to look up who the writer was for that episode... But somehow, in this case, their talent doesn't translate all that strongly to film.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: What's Your Number? Trailer

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