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On DVD Now
Easy A
Easy does it!
The creative Easy A doesn’t get everything right but it is funny and charming. Emma Stone does a wonderful job in the lead role as Olive. She is a truly great young actress. This movie will get her noticed. I liked the plot with the whole take on The Scarlet Letter and the fact that the ridiculous Demi Moore version was made fun of (as it deserves to be) but some of the jokes are ones that I’ve heard in a thousand other movies and they didn’t make me laugh this time around. I also didn’t like how Christians were portrayed. I’ve been a Christian for nearly my whole life and I have never, ever acted like Marianne (Amanda Bynes) does in this film. That whole deal was a little over-exaggerated. But the movie is good. It tackles a lot of issues that teenagers have to deal with and treats most of them as they should be treated. I would suggest that anybody over the age of 15 check out Easy A.
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The Ghost Writer
Politics from Polanski's perspective
The Ghost Writer is one of those movies that will not be for everybody. A lot of people may find it boring. It was right up my alley. In my opinion, it’s one of the defining movies of 2010. I have always enjoyed a good thriller and this ranks right up there with the best of them. Roman Polanski is one of the best directors in history and this has his mark all over it, especially the shocking ending. I would even go so far as to say that The Ghost Writer is Salt without all the action but with better and more interesting twists. It is also the slightly better movie (but I can’t give a movie ![]()
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3/4 on my scale).
Ewan McGregor does a fine job in the role of the ghost. Pierce Brosnan is good as Adam Lang and Olivia Williams is incredible as his wife Ruth. Kim Cattrall (Samantha from Sex and the City) should also get some credit here. She puts on a quality performance. Why does she always play the whore though? Nah, I’m kidding; I like her (I just hope she doesn’t take on another Sex and the City sequel). All of the performances by the lead actors and supporting cast, from Tom Wilkinson (conspicuous by his absence) to Timothy Hutton, range from good to great.
But the real star of the show is Alexandre Desplat’s score. It is majestic. He deserves two Academy Award nominations this year, one for this and one for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. I also have a feeling that The Ghost Writer will be nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay. But it’s not a faultless experience. My main complaint about it would have to be its sudden and abrupt change in pace from time to time. McGregor is talking to someone and then, OH GOSH, he’s discovered another secret. It really throws off the balance that Polanski usually makes strides to achieve. But in the scenes that really matter, the ones that cover each little bit of deceitfulness and paranoia, all the makings (and the deliverances) of a great movie are there.
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1/2
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Twice as good as Extinction
I’m going to get utterly crucified for saying this but Resident Evil: Afterlife is not a terrible movie. It really isn’t. I actually enjoyed the first Resident Evil although it was nothing like the game (I am a devoted gamer) and I have a raging inferno of distaste in my heart for Apocalypse and Extinction because they are terrible. But I noticed a big change in Afterlife. Sure, the unnecessarily gory action sequences and unexplainable pieces of the plot are still there but I also noticed that Paul W.S. Anderson actually threw in some conversation between folks this time and here’s the thing—for the most part, it actually makes sense! I also liked the addition of Claire (Ali Larter) and Chris (Wentworth Miller) Redfield, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), and Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) to the story. That tickled my fanboy bone. I was hoping for a little Leon Kennedy action though. And what the hell is up with K-Mart? K-Mart?! Are you serious?!
Okay, so the movie is admittedly kind of bad. But I liked more of it than I hated. I just did. Milla Jovovich does a good job as usual as Alice. I’ve never been impressed by Larter and she doesn’t do anything here to change my mind. She’s a blonde, she’s pretty, and that’s it. And of course I rolled my eyes at the sequel set-up. Then again, I also did that when Extinction ended on a sort of cliffhanger and Afterlife turned out waaaayyyyy better than I had anticipated. Keep it up, Mr. Anderson. I was, in the beginning, a fan of this series. If you churn out more of the good next time and leave out most of the crap (or at least portray it in a campy way), I may just hop back on the bandwagon once more. For now, though, I’m still hesitant.
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The Town
Don't vacation in Charlestown
The Town is a well-disguised genre flick. It’s the same stuff that’s been done in movies like Heat but with a fresh coat of paint. Fortunately, that coat of paint makes it shine like a new Ferrari. Ben Affleck does a terrific job as director (and as lead protagonist Doug MacRay). He obviously knows Boston from the inside out and presents Charlestown with all its flaws in a gritty and realistic way. I really loved Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, and The Town is similar in a way.
But it’s not quite as good as that movie or as Richard Roeper makes it out to be. There are a couple of key scenes that drag on forever and, and I don’t know if this bugs anybody else, but what is up with these Boston accents in films as of late? It got on my nerves in Shutter Island also. Does everyone from Boston talk like that? I was born in Pittsburgh, PA and raised in Alabama and I’m probably going to get called a hick for questioning something like that but I just can’t get past it. Oh well.
Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, and Blake Lively are all good (despite their accents). I dug the undeniable chemistry between Affleck and Hall. The heist scenes are all exciting and well-done. They got my blood pumping. For a movie that lasts for a little over two hours, The Town is reasonably endearing and entertaining throughout. But after all the hype I heard about it and all the attention that went into it, I have to say that it’s really kind of…ordinary.
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