31 March 2012

The Hunger Games (2012)
Film 22/50

movie still of stanley tucci as "the beav"

At first I found it strange that Stanley Tucci received top billing for his role as Caesar Flickerman, considering Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is truly the heart of this story. But although Lawrence did a nice job representing The Hunger Games' heroine, Tucci's performance truly stole the show.

25 March 2012

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Film 21/50

movie still where daniel craig begs rooney mara to eat some breakfast with him

If Daniel Craig showed up on my doorstep uninvited, I'd let him in, too.

Back in January, I promised that I'd eventually get around to seeing this film (having read the book and seen the Swedish version). Now to compare and contrast them all.

24 March 2012

The Edukators (2004)
Film 20/50

movie still with feng shui scare tactic example

I won't lie...there was only one motivating factor for me seeing this movie: Daniel Brühl. If you haven't seen Good Bye Lenin!, I highly recommend that film.

As for The Edukators (or as the original German title, Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei, roughly translates to English: Occupy Berlin), the story follows three activists who use feng shui as a scare tactic in a not-so-epic battle of rich vs. poor. They are forced to re-evaluate their beliefs when one of their heists goes awry.

17 March 2012

Scre4m (2011)
Film 19/50

movie still with neve campbell negotiating her contract for "scream 5"

Scre4m? More like L4me.

Wes Craven broke ground with the first installment of the Scream series (although I still find myself baffled over the high billing Drew Barrymore continues to receive for her participation in said series). The second and third movies fared well with critics, particularly since it was believed that they were rounding off a TRILOGY (that means you stop after making THREE movies, Wes) aimed at providing commentary on society's obsession with the horror genre. Why ten years after this supposed trilogy was complete Craven found it necessary to add a fourth...well, only he and/or his bank statements can explain.

There are several reasons this film fails where the others succeeded. I should now warn you that there may be a few spoilers coming your way...although I pinky-promise that I won't giveaway who killer is.

14 March 2012

50/50 (2011)
Film 18/50

movie still where philip baker hall offers joseph gordon-levitt some medicinal brownies

I love it when a movie gives me permission to hate Bryce Dallas Howard. Particularly when seen less than two weeks after the last movie that gave me permission to hate her. Thank you, 50/50!

That being said, here's my review in a nutshell:

11 March 2012

The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
Film 17/50

movie still of kristen stewart doing her best cryptkeeper impersonation
In order to get Kristen Stewart to make this face, the director made her watch the previous three films back to back A Clockwork Orange-style.

I was fortunate enough to watch this film with my sister; Mystery Science Theater 3000 has nothing on Lauren once she's had sugar. Unfortunately, I can barely remember a single gem from our screening now with the exception of Lauren calling dibs on referring to Taylor Lautner as "Jac-abs" in her film review (coming soon, I'm sure...which translates to sometime around next Thursday). My father was also present for this event (although he was smart enough to check out and take a nap about 20 minutes into the film).

I should probably warn all the 13 year old girls out there reading this that I will be throwing out spoilers left and right from this point on. So with that warning, here's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1...

04 March 2012

The Help (2011)
Film 16/50

movie still with octavia spencer wearing a sh*t-cooking grin

I had fully intended to read the book first, but life being what it is found me watching the film first instead. Well, if the film is even half as good as the book, then it will be well worth the read.

Perhaps I'll think differently after reading the book, but I don't have anything negative to say about this film other than to hop on the "Viola Davis was robbed" bandwagon. I haven't seen The Iron Lady, but I cannot for a moment imagine Meryl Streep topping Davis' performance by pretending to be Margaret Thatcher. Maybe if this had been 1982 and the film been Sophie's Choice, I could understand, but I should probably refrain from making a final ruling on the matter until I've seen The Iron Lady.