Julie and Julia [2009] 'Julie and Julia' is a completely generic, but all and all entertaining romantic comedy with a good acting turn by Meryl Streep. There is nothing too original to be found here, and the conflict points are a bit muted. It did benefit from doing a split story approach, as either story individually would have gotten stale. It's a fine weekend watch, but is ultimately forgettable.
Rating: 3/5
9 [2009] '9' is a movie that is all about atmosphere but fails on every other level. I loved the environment which the movie takes place in, but unfortunately it is completely negated by the uninspired plot. I did not connect or care about any of the characters. They simply flowed through the movie, completely without development. I was thoroughly bored until the end where I thought it finally was cohesive, only that it was completely contrived and uninteresting. It was based on a short film, and that is what it felt like, only stretched to a full length feature. There is very little substance, and no heart.
Rating: 2/5
The Messenger [2009] An interesting look at one of the most heartbreaking jobs imaginable, an Army causality notification officer. The reluctant and unlikely team of Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery(Ben Foster) and Captain Tony Stone(Woody Harrelson) provide an interesting and engaging dynamic. Both Foster and Harrelson are great in their parts, and makes you wish more was done with their characters. It certainly has its emotionally filled moments, but there was a lot left to be desired. It felt like the structure was there, but there was no meat on the bones. If it were a fuller, more fleshed out plot, it could have been a better film, since it was all there tonaly.
Rating: 3/5
A Prophet [2009] The highly touted French prison drama never hit home with me. Perhaps it will require a second viewing for me to discover the greatness, but I couldn't get past feeling that this was simply a well made prison film. Tahar Rahim did a fantastic job in his role, and there were moments of greatness, but it never struck me as a masterpiece. The biggest disconnect for me was my lack of interest in Rahim's character Malik. He deserved what he got, he was by no stretch a good guy, or one that I wanted to get behind. And while I can support flawed characters in cinema, for some reason the presentation of Malik turned me off and kept me from getting enveloped in the drama.
Rating: 3/5
Twilight [2008] 'Twilight' is more of a craze than anything cinematically tangible. It takes the wildly popular vampire romance, candy coats and shoves it out to mass appeal. There many similar movies out there with the exact same concept and which executed it in far more interesting ways, and yet 'Twilight' is the undisputed winner of the vampire wars. It knows its audience and it panders to it. And boy does it do a good job of pandering. All said, it isn't the most egregious teen sensation that could come about, and it almost has a 'so bad it's good' feel to it. I didn't hate the movie experience, mainly because I was laughing at the over the top corny moments.
Rating: 2.5/5
Twilight: New Moon The highly anticipated sequel to the teen girl vampire craze movie. It's more of the same, only the pandering goes to a whole new level. Director Chris Weitz knew his audience and was not afraid to milk every scene to maximize squeels from their young core audience. I could dissect the flaws in the plot and character development but this seems redundent given the film is essentially the movie equivalent of a boy band. It is more corny than the first, but still just as entertaining to watch as spectical.
Rating: 2/5