Drive

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A driver for stunts, robberies, and racing (Ryan Gosling) meets a girl he likes (Carey Mulligan), but her husband (Oscar Issac) gets him into trouble with the mob.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Kaden Leos

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution.Personally, I hated this movie despite its handful of interesting moments and artistic choices. I struggled to stay awake for the first half--a romantic drama-- and then struggled to justify how the tone of the second half--a gory, B-movie-style, mob thriller-- had anything to do with the first half. But I'm still going to recommend it to anyone who enjoyed No Country for Old Men, because clearly you people find characters who can kill in cold blood without thinking twice charming.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Mostly at the positive buzz it's been getting.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Mostly at the positive buzz it's been getting.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Probably. Which will be followed closely by me swearing at my TV.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Ryan Gosling is an extremely interesting and complex actor, even in the role of an empty vessel who hardly says anything and has no definable character traits besides the fact that he is a great driver, and has virtually no friends, family or confidants of any kind in his life. Without his performance, which brings just enough texture to confuse you into thinking that there might be something to this guy, this movie would be nothing more than B-level thriller looking for foreign DVD distribution at the AFM. (Definition AFM: American Film Market-- notorious place for selling action-thrillers with big stars to foreign markets because American companies weren't stupid enough to pick them up for distribution.)

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Bordering on pretentious, Nicolas Winding Refn, who is currently the hottest thing going in Hollywood, forces you at every turn to notice his directing work, with his constant use of reflections, shadows, and extreme angles. In fact, you will be thinking more about his work than about the story-- which may be a good thing for the story.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Never before has a screenwriter set us up so perfectly for a prequel. Hossein Amini gives us so little about the main character's backstory that you leave the film wondering where he came from, how he was raised, and basically what in his life makes him someone who can kill another human being so effortlessly and accurately on the drop of a dime. There are enough questions about who this talented murderer with a heart of gold is to fill an entire movie setting this one up. And the lack of dialogue, which is obviously supposed to be artistic, is completely unrealistic-- especially when it comes to the woman character.

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

A: The blood looks like Karo syrup with red food coloring #3 in it. The kind used in amateur horror movies. Not the kind used in Ryan Gosling/Carey Mulligan films. Just embarrassing.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Drive Trailer

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30 Minutes or Less

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A pizza delivery boy (Jesse Eisenberg) wakes up strapped to a bomb, with a pair of small time criminals (Danny McBride & Nick Swardson) demanding that he rob a bank for $100,000 if he wants to get out of exploding.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria, Michael Pena, Bianca Kajlich, Fred Ward

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's incredibly dumb, but not dumb enough to be awesome.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The funniest clips are in the trailer, and to add insult to injury, even those are slightly funnier when taken out of the context of the film.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No emotions of any kind will be had.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Funniest panel at Comic Con. If you weren't one of the thousand people at that panel, you may never discover how truly hilarious the actors in this film actually are. Because it's not particularly clear from watching this film.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Aziz Ansari is such a bad actor that he makes Jesse Eisenberg seem like he's over-acting just for hitting his emotions at appropriate levels. And Michael Pena, whose resume includes just about everything serious that's ever been made, turns out to be something of a comic genius... After this performance, I have a feeling that he will get a speedy welcome into the club.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The opening car scene is pretty awesome... and then you never notice the directing again.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: So after getting a bomb strapped to you, you go to your best friend who is a school teacher, and you say "Rob a bank with me," at which point he deserts his classroom full of children and agrees to rob a bank with you. Think about that... Yeah, there's no world in which it happens that way. Here's a possible alternative. You rob a bank by yourself, while your best friend calls the cops to explain why you're robbing the bank, and then the cops, using their years of professional knowledge and expertise, devise a strategy to get you out of that bomb. And don't get me started on the dialogue.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: 30 Minutes or Less Trailer

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Horrible Bosses

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Three guys (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis) with horrible bosses (Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, and Colin Farrell) hatch a plan to kill each others bosses.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland, Lindsay Sloane, Julie Bowen, P.J. Byrne, Wenell Pierce, Ron White, Ioan Gruffudd, Isaiah Mustafa, Bob Newhart

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Of course you have to suspend disbelief during most parts of the beginning, middle, and end, didn't you read what it's about? The murderers are the good guys!

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Lots of laughs. And speaking of Charlie Day, I've met more than one guy who has told me that if he could be anyone, he would be Charlie Day. With every Charlie Day movie (and episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) that I see, I understand more and more why they love him, and less and less why they would want to be him.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I feel sad for Colin Farrell's career up until now. Why didn't he ever show us before that he can be really, really funny when ugly?

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Shot of a Parking Lot... There are several shots of parking lots in this movie, so I'm pretty sure director, Seth Gordon, was shooting for that award.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I read a snippet of a review that said that Jennifer Aniston was miscast in this role, but I disagree. I think the role of a nymphomaniac rapist is a nice stretch for her, and that anyone who can't accept her range is just too attached to her being Rachel all the time.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Functional and utilitarian, except for the shot of the parking lot, which shows glimpses of genius.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: There are a lot of good one-liners, the characters feel fresh (except for Jason Bateman and Kevin Spacey, who have played those characters a lot of-- let's just say "every" time), and the story holds together well for a story that could only exist in nowhere.

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

A: Rat Poison: I appreciate the wink to 9 to 5, one of my all time favorite movies.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Horrible Bosses Trailer

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The Green Hornet

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A spoiled rich kid (Seth Rogen) who's mad at his dead dad (Tom Wilkinson) teams up with his dad's newly unemployed barrista/mechanic (Jay Chou) to fight crime in Los Angeles.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Tom Wilkinson, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos, Jamie Harris, Chad Coleman, Edward Furlong

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. There is something very exciting about this movie... But it might just be the car.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The humor is very dark and a little weird. I liked it... But I might have just been excited about that car.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Seth Rogen loses his mother, then his father... But I mostly felt bad about what happened to the car.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Better Car than the Batmobile. Yeah, I said it, Batmaniacs, bring it on!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Jay Chou is not John Cho with a Chinese accent. Although, he's equally as funny, in a much more Taiwanese way.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Michel Gondry plays down his abilities for the first time ever, simply telling the story without drawing excessive attention to his own superb directing skillz. He only showboats in two scenes. The first one is the opening party scene which feels forced and out of place next to the style of the rest of the film. The second showboating scene, though, where all of L.A.'s criminals spread the word about a million dollar bounty, leads your eye in so many interesting directions that you want to watch it more than once just to figure out how he did it.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Seth Rogen co-wrote the script, so I'm surprised he didn't make his own character a little more likeable. It's probably the one thing that could've really taken this movie from slightly off-putting and vaguely disturbing to just plain great.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Green Hornet Trailer

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