Sunday, October 31, 2010

Couples Retreat

Genre: Comedy
Director: Peter Billingsley
Main Actors: Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell
Rating: PG-13- (could watch it with parents, but it'd be a bit awkward.)
Length: 113 mins

IMDb Synopsis:
Dave and Ronnie, Jason and Cynthia, and Joey and Lucy are close. The group used to include Shane and Jennifer, but they divorced and she's gone. Jason and Cynthia announce that their marriage is in trouble, and they beg their friends (and Shane's young girlfriend) to join them on a couples' retreat, at the package rate, on a tropical island. The others reluctantly agree, planning to play while Jason and Cynthia work on their marriage with an island psychologist. To everyone's surprise, the package is inflexible: each couple must participate in the couples' exercises. Soon fault lines appear in all four relationships. What's in store for each couple?

   Okay, so frankly, this movie was pretty terrible. Honestly. We were bored, somewhat disgusted, and only laughed at one scene. The concepts that would be funny once were WAY overused. Such as the male on male embarassment etc. And the guitar hero duel. WTF? They had a really great cast, but the script was terrible, they ran out of unique ideas in about the first 10 minutes. The one scene that Erin had us watch over. and over. and over. at 4am in the morning was the yoga scene where the almost nude Carlos Ponce shows the group how to do yoga. He is a european, manwhore, very well built yoga teacher with like a 35 pack or something. One of the girls in particular enjoys him and instructs him to basically dry hump her to try and stretch out her back. Some other scenes that trying-too-hard-to-be-funny would be the one where the sharks "attack" the guys, and the one where they had to strip down to their underwear, but one guy wasn't wearing shorts. By the end all the problems had been solved and everyone was happy. Yay.
   The setting on the island of wherever was GORGEOUS. Seriously, I'm going to prebook my honeymoon there or something, the water is the bluest blue I have ever seen, and the tiki huts and stuff? SO CUTE.
   But other than the setting- this movie was NOT worth watching. Seriously, if you're reading this review while in Blockbuster- put down the DVD, and go rent Harry Potter. Please. It will be a waste of 5 dollars and you could have seen something actually worthwile instead of wasing almsot 2 hours of your life that you can never get back, hence the 26% that we give it.

Sex and the City

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance...Chick Flick!
Director: Michael Patrick King
Main Actors: Sarah Jessica Parker; Kim Cattral; Kristin Davis; Cynthia Nixon
Length: 145 mins
Rating: R (see first paragraph for details.)

IMDb Synopsis:
After moving in together in an impossibly beautiful New York apartment, Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big make a rather arbitrary decision to get married. The wedding itself proves to be anything but a hasty affair--the guest list quickly blooms from 75 to 200 guests, and Carrie's simple, label-less wedding gown gives way to an enormous creation that makes her look like a gigantic cream puff. An upcoming photo spread in Vogue puts the event--which will take place at the New York Public Library--squarely in the public eye. Meanwhile, Carrie's girlfriends--Samantha, the sexpot; Charlotte, the sweet naïf; and Miranda, the rigid perfectionist--could not be happier. At least, they couldn't be happier for Carrie. Charlotte still has the unrealized hope of getting pregnant. Samantha is finding a loving, committed relationship more grueling than she could have imagined. Miranda unwittingly lets her own unhappiness--created when Steve admits to cheating on her just once--spoil Carrie's. After a heated encounter with Steve, she happens to spot Mr. Big and tells him he's crazy to get married. She's really only thinking of her own marriage. But her angry remark gets Mr. Big to thinking.

   Okay first, this movie has a lot of sex. And I mean A LOT. That would be the reason this movie is rated R for all the sex, and nudity. And it shows EVERYTHING. This film is NOT for kids, or even preteens really. However for teens and up, and on a girls night or when you are feeling bad, this would be a very good choice :) We loved it, it had us rolling on the floor laughing at some of the lines, and we've even come to repeating some of them (ex. colour!)

    Although this movie was a bit long, it spans over a whole year, spending longer in places like halloween, new years, valentines day, and so on. The scenery in Mexico, was gorgeous that you saw, they really didn't leave the resort, and every bit of NYC you saw was perfectly suited for whatever scene they happened to be shooting. The plot, which revolves around the lives of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte is mostly centered in on Carrie, and the fact that she was going to be the 40- year old bride, but since most people don't get their happily ever after, things happened. Of course most things ended up resolving themselves by the end, and it's a very good inappropriate feel good movie- like I said before the perfect chick flick. The acting was good, a lot better than I thought it would be, and the comedic timing was perfect. Of course these women are pretty well adapted to these characters after doing the tv show for years, so it wasn't too big of a surprise. All in all, we give the film a 75%


We'll be reviewing sex and the city 2 next month, so watch this one, then hang tight!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Juno

Genre:  Comedy / Drama
Director:  Jason Reitman
Main Actors: Michael Cera, Ellen Page.
Rating: PG-13 (There is sex and it shows a bit of skin, swearing. Proceed with caution.)
Length:96 minutes


IMdB Synopsis:
A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place the child with an adoptive couple. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds. Will Juno's plan work, can she improvise, and what about Bleeker?

   Ah, Ellen Page. A young actress who was literally plucked off the streets and put into a movie. She is an amazing actress who embodies the character of Juno. The role requires a huge amount of humour but also a lot of emotional acting. Ellen pulls it off with ease. Juno goes through a great amount of stress in the movie but keeps her humour light. Ellen shows the stress just below the surface.

   Juno is a real indie film. It isn't the type of film that is on a huge budget and that is one of the many reasons we enjoyed it so much. There were little quirks (like the hamburger phone, and the tic tacs) that made the film that much.... more. Reitman's directing was ace and Micheal played his usual role of nerdy, hot, odd boy fantastically.
 
   Caroline and Erin didn't really enjoy the film as much as I did. They don't seem to enjoy indie films (or indie music for that matter. The soundtrack= top.) that much. We give Juno 75 %.
" You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events."