Random Movie Stuff - 7/5/12

- Inside Llewyn Davis will now open February 8, 2013.  It's the next movie from the Coen brothers, and it's about the folk-music scene in 1960's New York.  Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac and John Goodman star.

- Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Angela Bassett will star in Olympus Has Fallen.  Butler will play an ex-Secret Service agent who defends the President (Eckhart) when terrorists attack the White House.  Bassett will play the head of the Secret Service.  Antoine Fuqua (King Arthur) will direct.

- Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) will star in Scary Movie 5.

I've caught a couple 2011 titles recently.  First my wife and I were looking for a romantic movie to watch on Netflix Instant, and I remembered Certified Copy had good reviews.  Well, it's one of those movies that shouldn't be listed as a "romance" just because it stars a woman and a man.  That's like calling Revolutionary Road a romance.  So because it wasn't what we expected, my wife hated it.

Not the movie's fault, but Certified Copy (★★½) is one of those talky, well-acted foreign films that has an interesting hook, but it becomes increasingly unpleasant as it unwinds.  Juliette Binoche stars as Frenchwoman who goes to meet a British author in Tuscany, and most of the movie is their conversation as they tour the city.  We know only what the movie tells us, and as their conversation continues, we start to question the relationship between the two.  Do they already know each other? Is this some odd flirting ritual?

Also, the Scera theater has kid movies every Wednesday afternoon for cheap, and we bought season tickets.  Since the 4th was a holiday, I was able to accompany them.  Unfortunately the movie was Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil (★½), one of the ugliest animated movies I've ever seen on the big screen.  It is cheap, television-level quality and never should have made it to theaters.  Having said that, it had a couple good lines here and there, buried among the crap, and my kids really enjoyed it.

Friends with Benefits - DVD Review

Starring Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenburg, Nolan Gould, Andy Samberg and Emma Stone. Directed by Will Gluck.
★★½

Yet another movie that tries to teach us that sex can be business-like between friends without any of that yucky emotional stuff. I'm sure nothing will get complicated.

Timberlake and Kunis start off with a professional relationship and then they become friends, actual friends. Somewhere in there they decide to have sex but make a promise that if either one starts to feel emotional about it, they stop it, because they like each other too much.

And for a while it works. And then they hit a point where they stop as they decide to see other people. And that works for a while. Ah, but those pesky emotions...

Kunis has the right rhythms for a rom-com lead without feeling like we're ever going to venture into sappy territory. She's a genuinely funny performer. Timberlake's been good in supporting roles (The Social Network) but here, he's just fine.

I didn't like the main plot at all. I did like some of the detours it took, like with Timberlake's father (Richard Jenkins) having signs of Alzheimer's and how the family deals with that. But really, this is basically the same movie as No Strings Attached.

Bad Teacher - DVD Review

***

Starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, Phyllis Smith, Thomas Lennon, Molly Shannon and Eric Stonestreet.
Directed by Jake Kasdan.

"IT'S THE ONLY ARGUMENT I NEED, SEAN!"

I enjoy the popularity of that line from the trailer. It doesn't have much to do with anything else in the movie, except reveal a little of the character of the gym teacher (Jason Segel), who seems to be the only person in the movie who sees Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) for what she really is. A spoiled, selfish, shallow woman who deep-down inside might have a little soul if the right guy came along.

She's not looking for the right guy; she's looking for the rich guy. Some man she can sink her hooks into so she can be one of those Hollywood wives who wear big hats and sunglasses and have her servants follow her with her shopping bags.

But Elizabeth can't seem to land that man. They tend to see through her before she's able to get to the wedding altar. She managed to smile and coast through her first year of teaching and had every intention of getting married and leaving, but when her fiance dumps her, she goes back to her old job, and she has no regard for her students.

But hey, the new substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake) happens to be the heir of an expensive-watch empire. Elizabeth lays forth her plans - raise money to get breast enhancement surgery in order to land him.

This movie owes a lot to Bad Santa, but what's really interesting about this movie is the bad guy is the protagonist. Were this movie from the peppy good teacher's point of view, we'd see how evil Elizabeth is.

Diaz is great in the role, and Segel and Lucy Punch (as the good teacher) are solid as well. It's a pitch-black comedy that never goes the sentimental route. Maybe she'll grow up. No. No, she won't.