Our Idiot Brother

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A man (Paul Rudd) is so sweet and naive in his belief in the good in people that he gets himself and his three sisters into a lot of trouble. But it's also because he has a big mouth.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Rashida Jones, Steve Coogan, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, T.J. Miller, Shirley Knight, Matthew Mindler, Sterling Brown, Hugh Dancy, Janet Montgomery, Lydia Haug

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Stop! This is a very sweet character and a perfectly sweet movie, but there's nothing engaging about any of it.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: It is marketed as a broad comedy and it's not. There are still some good clever laughs, but the humor is much more subdued than you might think. It's almost British, in fact.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Still not engaging.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Movie I've Ever Told You Not to See... It's going to be more enjoyable on the small screen anyway. Wait for that.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: There are a lot of stand out performances. Paul Rudd is perfectly dumb. Elizabeth Banks is a perfectly uptight bitch, not dissimilarly to Kathryn Hahn's perfectly hippie bitch.While T.J. Miller is perfect at seeming like he's understudying for the role of the idiot brother.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: There is an energy missing from the film that keeps it from being as fun as it should be, and it seems to have something to do with the directing.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It just doesn't feel original in any way... and you really want it to.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Our Idiot Brother Trailer

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Circumstance

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A pair of teenage girls (Nikohl Boosheri & Sarah Kazemy) fall in lesbian love in Iran, where it's illegal to be gay.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho, Sina Amedson, Keon Mohajeri

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Those of you who love truly independent should run to see this movie because you will love it. For the rest of you, I'm going to throw out some keywords, and you can decide for yourself if it sounds up your alley: lesbian teens, oppression, surveillance, religious fanaticism, men controlling women, secret lives, secret clubs, lack of freedom, rape. So, you in?

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: As part of their rebellion, they decide to dub the movie Milk into farsi... but mostly we watch them do the sex scenes.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: More like rise up and fight for these poor Iranians.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Foot Rape scene. Did you know that it's possible to rape someone just by rubbing their foot? Well, you do now... Oh, and it also won the Audience Award at Sundance.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Superb. Every single actor in the film brings something unique and unexpected to their role.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Very independent. At times it jumps around, leaving scenes abruptly and entering others without warning. You are often left wondering what a scene was doing in the film, and yet you find yourself giving the director the benefit of the doubt, thinking to yourself that it probably needed to be there and you're just a little too dumb to figure out why.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: This is a script of few words. And many long stares. Sometimes too long, bordering on melodrama. But sometimes just right, bordering on letting you in on the storyline.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Circumstance Trailer

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From Prada to Nada

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: This aptly titled movie is about two rich sisters (Alexa Vega & Camilla Belle) of Mexican decent, who after their father dies, are forced to move from Beverly Hills to the barrio.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Camilla Belle, Alexa Vega, Wilmer Valderrama, Nicholas D'Agosto, Adriana Barraza, April Bowlby, Pablo Cruz, Kuno Becker, Karla Souza

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Supposedly this is based on Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, which maybe they shouldn't announce in the opening credits, because it gives away the whole story. And right when you think the movie couldn't get any more predictable, too.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Many of the jokes border on racism, despite the fact that they are being delivered by a character of Mexican decent.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Their dad dies to set the action in motion. Then they find out he was broke, and left them nothing but debt. And then they move to a neighborhood where they're pretty sure they're going to get killed. And after all that, you still won't feel like crying.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I'd give it a Razzie for Make-Up, with an assist going to the Casting Director. Camilla Belle is about as white as snow, and no matter how much orange pancake makeup you put on her, she is never going to pass for Mexican... She might be able to land herself a spot on the Jersey Shore, though.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I'm gonna blame the director's editing choices for the unfortunate misses in the performance department. From the opening montage, you can tell that he has no sense of rhythm or comic timing, and the actors, though their performances could have been absolutely passable, fall victim to the off-pace of the cuts, which make them seem like they are performing for an audience of slower than average mind capacity.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Aside from ruining the actor's performances, there are several shots that are blurry because the focus is pulled to the person in the foreground, rather than the one your eyes are struggling to look at in the background. To make matters worse, this appeared to be a deliberate stylistic choice.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: For as low rent as this story is, the (small) audience I saw it with felt compelled to applaud at the end. So you can imagine my surprise when the lights came up and I found out that most of them were well over 50 years old. I was even more surprised to hear them in the bathroom, afterward, discussing how "cute" the movie was... And I thought old people were supposed to be wise?

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

A: Yes, I'm just as tired of giving out Yellow Lights, as you are of reading about them. But it's not my fault. Somebody make a great movie, already!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: From Prada to Nada Trailer

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