"Elizabethtown" (script) "Buried in Crowe’s overstuffed-though-underwhelming script is a great, touching, affable, funny, emotionally satisfying romance. But around that, like mold, you’ll find a lot of extraneous material that simply takes you nowhere...Crowe wanted to tell the tale of a handful of interesting people. He didn’t quite get there. Drew and Claire make your inner cynic wither and die, but around them you’ll find what feels like bad studio comedy fare: unfunny jokes and gags that give the script an overburdened, messy fee..." (full review)
"Batman Begins" (script) "Feel comforted that for the first time, they got it right. Not the TV show. Not the films we've seen so far. This feels like Batman, and it brings the franchise to a point where anything is possible. All the characters you know and love are treated well and fairly, and if Superman gets this treatment, maybe the WB won't be the ire of fanboys everywhere. With this script, I feel that Warner Brothers is on the right track with this character, and I can't wait to see the sequel to THIS particular Batman film..." (full review)
"The Girl Next Door" "What really strikes me as odd is that this film had three writers. It seems like two too many based on what the end results are. Maybe they needed three to write down as many funny moments as they could from as many comedies as they remembered before the script deadline. It seems that way, because while The Girl Next Door is not a bad movie, and it certainly is a few notches above the average gross-out comedies that it emulates, it’s just so busy being other movies that it never truly settles into being its own..." (full review)
"Dawn of the Dead" "Dawn of the Dead is a good one. It's not great to be sure, but it is quite nice. It has the tension of the first one, an ending that's even bleaker, and if the satire is more subdued dark humor finds other ways to escape (Such as a living zombie head found in an unexpected place). While I'll definitely always prefer the original, the remake has earned its place in the dead series. Good show..." (full review)
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" ""Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" may not be for everybody (let's face it, neither were "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation"), but if you like sophisticated, ambiguous and riveting mind trips that will stay with you for days, then this one is for you. But more than anything, the film also serves as a reminder that from here on in, the sun will shine very bright on Jim Carrey's career as a serious actor..." (full review)
"Jersey Girl" by 'Long Don Silver' Its been said that the brilliant Lost In Translation was Sofia Coppola's love letter to Japan. Then I guess Jersey Girl is Kevin Smith's love letter to bad filmmaking. The only way Smith can possibly regress any further is if his next picture is a student film shot on super 8. Yes folks, it's that bad. My wife owes me a hummer for dragging me out to see this piece of shit.
Ben Affleck stars as Ollie Trinke (Did Affleck bet his agent he couldn't get him to play a character with a dumber sounding name than Larry Gigli?) a single dad/hot shot NY publicist raising his daughter Gertrude (I know) after his wife (played by J-Lo) passed away giving birth to her.
Because of this, Ollie resents the newborn Gertrude. He pretty much throws the responsibility of raising her to his father (George Carlin), and ignores her. He ends up losing his job, and he and the little girl are forced to move in with his dad in New Jersey.
Seven years later Ollie's a better (but still not so great) dad, and is unable to find work in Publicity. In what has to rank as one of the worst "meet cute" scenes in the history of cinema, Ollie meets Liv Tyler (I forget the name of her character) in a video store where she works. The scene that follows is completely unbelieveable (I won't ruin it for you but you'll roll your eyes when you see it).
The movie then goes into "auto cliche" mode. One sequence in particular was so contrived (Affleck realizes his daughter is more important than his career) that the girls next to us just got up and left.
Overall this film was very flat. For a comedy, there really weren't many laughs. As far as the acting goes, the supporting players outshine the stars. Carlin, Tyler, and Raquel Castro all deliver (despite the cliche riddled script they're asked to work from).
Newcomer Castro is adorable and she (along with every other actor acting opposite him including one who does a surprise 2 minute cameo) steals every scene she's in with Affleck. He turns in his usual shitty performance (ditto for J-Lo). Especially bad is a scene with J-Lo where they're getting ready to go to the MTV VMA's. The poor bastard. I'd say this film will be his third flop in a row.
