Real Movie Review-Movie Reviews, Movie Quotes, Movie Trivia

Director: Seth Gordon

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Favreau

The holiday season is a time that perennially fills itself with movie releases. There are the giant blockbusters that usually only fulfill the bust part, the built for the Oscars group that have been held back until the fourth quarter so that people don’t forget about them when it is time to vote for the awards and of course their is the full slate of obligatory Christmas themed comedies that are usually horrible and are only moderately successful because they have the word Christmas in the title. This last group is how Tim Allen has fed his family for the last several years. They are usually not funny enough for any real laughs, to cheesy to digest easily, with an ending sweet enough to put you in an insulin coma. There have been some notable exceptions to these trappings like, The Santa Claus, Bad Santa, The Ref and others you can find in our list of the best Christmas movies of all time. Four Christmases fallss into the last category (Christmas themed Movies) but is good enough to make its way into your Christmas movie rotation.

Four Christmases is the story of a self centered, narcissistic yuppie couple (if you want to see the birth of these characters, pay attention to Clark Griswald’s neighbors in Christmas Vacation) Brad and Kate. They spend every Christmas holiday finding elaborate excuses to avoid spending the holidays with their dysfunctional families and take lavish vacations in Bali and Fiji. When their flight to Fiji is cancelled due to Bay area fog, they are ambushed by a reporter asking for their thoughts on the cancellations. This impromptu press conference, in spite of Brad’s best efforts to say nothing, is broadcast on live television. Their families see the footage and realize that Brad and Kate are not actually going to be inoculating impoverished children in Burma and demand that the couple visit. Their Christmas circuit of his mom, his dad, her mom and her dad, takes them on a whirlwind of misadventures but it also takes them on a journey of discovery where they start rethinking their relationship with their families and each other.

Four Christmases is one of the few holiday movies that successfully toes the line of tradition and irreverence. It has enough of a sweet message to make you want to call home when you are finished and enough good laughs to make it fun. Vince Vaughn delivers a great performance and displays the great delivery and comedic timing that has kept him busy since he jumped onto the scene in swingers. Both he and Reese Witherspoon always seem to find roles that allow them to just be themselves and it works. If you are looking for a fun night out with plenty of laughs that will get you in the holiday spirit, don’t miss this one.

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Starring: Jason Segal, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Aldous Snow, Jonah Hill

Yes, penis lovers, rejoice, for there is another oh-so-funny ball-dropping event, thanks to Hollywood’s most prolific comedy creator, these days, Judd Apatow. Since leaving an illustrious TV career in 2003, producer Judd Apatow has come up with a formula for creating appealing comedy projects without the expense of big name performers or directors. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the next car in Judd Apatow’s train to success. First time director Nicholas Stoller takes a pretty decent story with likable characters played by a largely unfamiliar cast and manages to make an enjoyable feature out of it all.

Jason Segal is Peter Bretter, a TV music score composer with a famous TV star girlfriend named Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Yup, life is good for Peter. Well, at least until Sarah rips his life apart by dumping him for a rock star. God, I hate it when that happens. Anyway, Peter decides that a Hawaiian vacation is just the thing to take his mind off of his heartbreak. Unfortunately, after arriving, and meeting the beautiful desk clerk, Rachel (Mila Kunis), Peter finds out that the other guests include the rock star, Aldous Snow and his new squeeze, Sarah. Things pretty much progress just as you think they will from there, but there are some laughs along the way, including a neat scene where they talk about a film that Sarah’s character has just made. Her performer, Kristen Bell actually made a movie exactly like that.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall the girl might be tricky, but forgetting the movie probably won’t be. There is nothing new to offer here, but that is not to say its a bad movie. It isn’t. This is enjoyable familiar fare with pretty girls, funny guys and a few clever lines. What else can you ask from a Friday night film?

Director: Michael Haneke

Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart

Writer/director Michael Haneke did a scene by scene exact remake of his 1997 Austrian feature to create this English language version of the thought provoking film that questions the movie industry’s perceptions of violence and reality, unlike any film since 1971’s Clockwork Orange. The performances are superb and delivery of the natural dialog is impressive. The story moves forward slowly, and turns the usual Hollywood formula on its ear time, and time again, but to say more about how it does so, would reveal too much.

Ann, George (Naomi Watts, Tim Roth) and their son, Georgie (Devon Gearhart) are a rich, young family off to spend some time at their summer home. Things are busy, but pleasant, until a couple of polite and strange young men show up. When it turns out that their intentions include far more than borrowing a few eggs, things go downhill rapidly.

Imagine Desperate Hours (anyone remember that one?), with the home invaders being a couple of polite young men of obvious good breeding and cross with the cultural commentary of Clockwork Orange and you will have some idea of what to expect here, but really, in the end, this will really not be anything like what you have come to expect from a film.

Director: Andy Tennant

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Alexis Dziena, Ray Winstone, Ewen Bremner, Kevin Hart, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Brian Hooks

Co-writer/director, Andy Tennant (Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch), is back in the rom-com business again with this romantic/comedy adventure film that is blessed with some beautiful, Caribbean scenery, and saddled with a variable speed formula story that roars forward with exhilaration at times, and falls back into a putt-putt, check-your-watch, pace at others. Matthew McConaughey is at home as a charming underachiever, but Kate Hudson doesn’t always seem to know how to play his frustrated soon-to-be ex-wife. The direction is similarly erratic with some nice shots while others seem rushed, and the action often falls flat.

Matthew McConaughey is an irresponsible, but charming, treasure hunter, named Finn, who starts out pretty down on his luck when he accidentally sinks his own boat. This puts him in deadly debt to a silly gangsta rap crew lead by Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart). As if this isn’t enough, his estranged wife, and former treasure hunting companion, Tess (Kate Hudson), is divorcing him. Fate (and coincidental cinema at its best) intervenes, however, to land Finn on Tess’ employer’s boat, and soon his passion and charm has won over her bored billionaire boss, Nigel (Donald Sutherland) and his dippy, socialite daughter, Gemma, and the well-appointed yacht is turned around to go on a treasure hunt. There are, of course, others after the treasure as well, including partner-turned rival, Moe (the voice of Beowulf).

I rather enjoyed Fool’s Gold, probably for the same reasons that I like Overboard (coincidentally starring Kate’s Mom, Goldie Hawn) and, to a lesser extent, Cocktail. There are obscenely expensive boats and a lavish lifestyle that I can’t even afford to buy a magazine about, beautiful paradise settings and attractive women in bathing suits. If the preview leads you to believe that you won’t like it, then you won’t. It is exactly what it appears to be. If, however, you just want some light, fluffy fare that will make you wish for a hot holiday in some island country with steel drums, overpriced girly drinks and under priced beer, then you can probably look past the flaws here, (and there are many), enough to enjoy a two hour Caribbean getaway.

Director: Andrew Currie

Starring: K’Sun Ray, Carrie Ann Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson, Henry Czerny, Sonja Bennett, Jennifer Clement

Fido is an amusing zombie comedy that will gleefully be eaten up by the legions of zombie fans out there. Director and co-writer, Andrew Currie cleverly sets his zombie tale in a 1950s-style society, and this makes the outrageousness of the imaginative story that much better. The actors have a lot of fun with the tongue in cheek dialog and, even for a non-zombie lover like me, this is an entertaining film.

The movie opens with a great 50s style promotional film by the all-powerful Zomcon corporation, which gives the hilarious history of zombie/human relations, which consists of a troubled past of dead relatives rising up to devour their offspring (The Zombie Wars), to the current utopian state of affairs, in which some zombies are used as slaves, and the rest are kept out communities by a fence. Our story centers around little Timmy Robinson, a bullied and neglected little boy, who has no friends until his mom, concerned over not keeping up with the Joneses’, gets the family a zombie (Billy Connelly), which Timmy names Fido. Trouble looms when Fido eats a neighbor, but Timmy and Mom (Carrie Ann Moss) have begun to feel some affection for Fido, who shows a loyalty level that is quite rare in human flesh devouring creatures of any sort, and decide to protect him.

If you missed Fido in the theater (and almost everyone did. Maybe this was a stright to video release), then you should catch it on dvd if you have any interest in zombie comedy, or movies that spoof the 50s. Consider this to be two thirds Pleasantville crossed with one third Dawn of The Dead, and then decide if its for you. Bear in mind, that I didn’t expect to enjoy it and still did.

Director: Robert Benton,

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Selma Blair, Stana Katic, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway, Fred Ward, Billy Burke, Missi Pyle

Feast of Love is a slice of life relationship drama by the director of Kramer vs. Kramer, Robert Benton. The story trots out all kinds of tired cliches, gets far-fetched, and is often grim, as it opens up subplots that aren’t developed, but the dialog is natural, and convincing, and is helped along by a talented cast. There are a lot of characters, however, and cutting back would have allowed deeper focus, and more emotional investment by the audience, giving impact to the story. If we barely know the character, why do we care? Still, Benton handles the many characters well, never lets things get confusing, and does create an engrossing, if forgettable drama, that could have used some lighter moments to offset the dark ones.

Morgan Freeman is Harry, a happily married, perceptive professor with his own pain, who narrates this drama, as he bemusedly watches love, and life, play out its little game in several relationships from his seat at a Portland coffee shop. Owner, Bradley (Greg Kinnear), sees his marriage crash in the tangled wreckage of a lesbian affair, before finding someone new, who has secrets of her own. His employee, Oscar (Toby Hemingway), finds love with Chloe (Alexa Davalos), while his drunken father interferes.

Fans of mellow-dramatic relationship pictures will find a large slice of life, and plenty of pathos in this Feast of Love. This multi-storied, romantic formula has been used so many times, it always feels like you have seen the films before. I don’t mind these kinds of films, but they are best, when they are more focused, and lightened up by some humor, or amusing characters. You have seen this one before. Many were better, and many were worse, but you already know if you are going to enjoy it, when you press play.

Director: Chris Bradley, Kyle LaBrache

Starring: Annabelle Gurwitch

You have to admire the imagination of documentary makers who can take all kinds of experiences, and come up with the idea for a feature. In this case, Annabelle Gurwitch wrote and starred in this mildly interesting look at the sour, rejecting experience of being fired. There are a few funny spots, but the overall effect is uneven, and I wasn’t disappointed to find that it was only around a hour long. Is that a good sign?

Writer and star, Annabelle Gurwitch starts out with the tale of her own dismissal at the hands of no other than the neurotic, drama king of New York City, himself, Woody Allen. From here, she goes on to interview all kinds of people from ordinary to the mildly famous about their own dismissal experiences, and takes us to some stand up routines about being canned. This film also marks the first time that I have seen a puppet show on a documentary. Well, there’s a first time for everything they say, though I’m still waiting to grow a second head so I have someone intelligent to talk to.

Fired is a short and mildly amusing feature that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but I think that there better ways to spend 70 minutes.

Director: David Dobkin

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey, Kathy Bates, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks.

David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers and Shanghai Knights) drives this Vince Vaughn vehicle. The story has an interesting premise, but mediocre execution relies heavily upon Vince’s delievery of a non-stop parade of snappy, mostly nasty, and sometimes funny jokes. There is a strong supporting cast, but, while Bates has some decent lines, Paul Giamatti is underused and Spacey, who could have been given some deliciously funny and evil dialog, is left to languish in mediocrity as a cardboard character.

Vince Vaughn is Fred Claus, a bitter, self absorbed man with a famous Saint for a brother. Guess which one? That’s right. Jolly, old St. Nick. Try and compete with that! You’d be bitter, wouldn’t you? Okay well maybe not, but Fred is a pretty bitter. We get hints to this when we watch him blast out machine gun salvos of anti-Xmas venom, destroy lawn decorations and brawl with an army of Salvation Santas. Soon, however, poor Fred desperately needs money for bail, and stuff and is forced to end his estrangement from his famous family by contacting Santa (Paul Giamatti in a fat suit) and ask for the kind of gift that has several zeroes and fits neatly into a wallet. Unfortunately, Santa wasn’t born yesterday and tells his erstwhile sibling that to get anything, Fred will have to visit him at the North Pole and help out with the world’s only real Christmas rush. Once there, Fred is befriended by a romantically-smitten elf, played by a digitally reduced John Michael Higgins, but Santa has other visitors too. These include the Claus boys’ parents (featuring Kathy Bates as Mom, whom Fred has been ducking) and a Scrooge-like ‘efficiency expert’ with the power and personality to shut down Christmas. It all sounds funnier than it is and unfolds with all the imagination of a tax form. There is a great scene however, where Fred visits a support group for those struggling wih having famous siblings. It is loaded with cameos by siblings of celebrities playing themselves and is good for some belly laughs.

This is movie-making by the numbers and isn’t bad, but is aimed at, and limited in its real appeal to, official and unofficial Vince Vaughn fan club members. It’s coming at you for Christmas, but it ain’t no gift. Fred Claus has a few laughs, but as many surprises as the average Monday morning commute. If a movie is going to be such an obvious formula film, then it should be funnier than this. In the end, it’s little more than a pleasant distraction. That’s enough for some, but, as for me, I’d rather just watch Scrooged again.

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz

Director: Gregory Hoblit

I wonder if Anthony Hopkins is starting to notice that people are afraid to be alone with him? He has done lots of movies of various types, but it is for his evil, killer roles that he is most remembered. This will be another of the latter and it is a pretty good one that will appeal to the mystery/courtroom drama fans

Hopkins is Ted Crawford, a wealthy, acutely intelligent, but arrogant man, deeply in love with his much younger wife. When he finds her to be unfaithful, he shoots her in the head (I guess that’s one way to go), waits for the police to arrive, then surrenders and promptly confesses. Ryan Gosling is appealling (even damn funny in a few spots) as a sharp, arrogant, hotshot DA, on his way out for a made-in the-shade corporate gig and is not happy to have this land on his desk. Still, it seems like an easy open-and-shut case, that will pad his already 97% conviction rate, but things are not always as they appear and Crawford has some plans that see this case become more and more complicated.

This is no masterpiece, but it is not a waste of time either. It is a quality drama with a clever story, and two interesting characters, with more similarities than differences, meeting head to head as the stakes climb higher and higher. In the end, it is the ego that does in the eventual loser of the conflict; a nice touch. To learn anymore, you will have to see the movie.

Director: George Hickenlooper

Starring: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon, Mena Suvari, Shawn Hatosy

Every year or two, Hollywood gives us one of these depressing films about a character’s painful descent into addiction. They are difficult to watch, particularly when they are based on a true story. There is some interesting interplay between the rich and artists and their relationship. I didn’t really like any of the characters and, though I didn’t know this story, I knew where the movie was going as sure as if the finish line was waving a big red flag. There are no surprises, except the nasty portrayal of the deceased rich and famous.

This is a bio pic about Edie Sedgwick, (played magnificently by Sienna Miller) a waif-like rich girl who found favor with the celebrity media (hmmm, who does that sound like in today’s culture?) in the 1960s through her association with pop artist, Andy Warhol (another great performance, this time by Guy Pearce). The pair of them form the core of a bunch of self-indulgent, unfettered sixties socialites that cling to Warhol, as he holds court at his studio (known as the factory, hence the title) as they live lives of excess and denial. Sedgwick’s family is shown in a horrible light and Warhol is portrayed as an immature, narcissistic leech, constantly looking for rich people to exploit. Christensen plays folk singer, Billy Quinn, a fictional character rumored to be taking the place of Bob Dylan, who apparently had a relationship with Sedgwick.

Drugs are bad. I get it. Most of us in the non-celeb world are pretty much in touch with that message, so I’m not sure I needed it again. The acting performances are strong, but the story is simple and predictable, so I can only recommend this film to those with an interest in the true story or those who, for some reason, enjoy drug culture flicks like Requiem for a Dream or Bright Lights, Big City, Less Than Zero, etc.. For me these films are all the same and hold little entertainment value. Neither did Factory Girl.