wolfnotes
wrote about Surrogates
Their brains were liquefied in their skulls. Really? I might have given this a higher score but having read the graphic novel, I can't forgive the shoddy treatment of the source material, substituting cliche and melodrama in place of original and nuanced writing, and generic sci-fi visuals in place of a gritty, noirish atmosphere.
wolfnotes
wrote about Southland Tales
An inane storyline, bad exposition-through-narration, annoying characters. Sophomoric in every sense of the word. And yet the spectacle kept me mostly entertained.
wolfnotes
wrote about Pizzeria Kamikaze
Somewhat interesting premise; bland, uneven execution.
wolfnotes
wrote about Walk Hard: American Cox, the Unbearably Long, Self-Indulgent Director's Cut
While the first half is filled with some good laughs, the second half goes off the rails--and not in a funny way.
There's a strange charm to some of the early scenes but the campy horror is neither very funny nor horrifying.
wolfnotes
wrote about Stranger Than Fiction (2)
Run-of-the-mill postmodern comedy. Go rent Adaptation again instead.
wolfnotes
wrote about The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry's undeniable talent seems better suited to his music videos than his feature films. Dreams have often fascinated me, in life and in films, but The Science of Sleep seems to lack any dream-like qualities at all. It only delivers more of that same eye candy we've come to expect from the director, at the expense of story, characterization and atmosphere.
wolfnotes
wrote about The Visitor
Filled with contrivances, cliches, and one-dimensional characters.
wolfnotes
wrote about Sweeney Todd
See one scene of this movie and you've seen them all. One-note performances from all involved. Then again I'm not one for this kind of music.
Run-of-the-mill cop drama.
wolfnotes
wrote about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Somewhat fun, but very dumb. The CGI ants and monkeys don't help.
wolfnotes
wrote about Burn After Reading
Almost a parody of a Coen brothers movie, and an unfunny one at that.
wolfnotes
wrote about Zombieland
Fuck this clown.
wolfnotes
wrote about They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
I didn't think a dance marathon could be the stuff of melodrama. And maybe a dance marathon shouldn't be.
wolfnotes
wrote about Tell No One
Confidently crafted opening gives way to increasingly contrived situations.
wolfnotes
wrote about Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Worth seeing for Hoffman's performance, but the writing is amateurish at best.
Though the first part of the movie is promising, it's ultimately a contrived and tedious affair. It also relies too much on the ever-present score, performed by orchestra, piano, and typewriter.
wolfnotes
wrote about Rocket Science
Aims at being a more realistic high school comedy, but the plot feels contrived nevertheless. Reece Thompson gives an endearing performance as the stuttering Hal Hefner. Maybe because of this, I wanted to like the movie more than I did. It also felt drawn out at an hour and 40 minutes.
Mildly entertaining.
wolfnotes
wrote about Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The broad comedy doesn't always work, but it more often than not elicits a laugh, with charming performances by most everyone involved. Interest peters out in the last act however (no pun intended), and the full on dracula puppet musical is self-indulgent and not very funny.