Catching up on some more flicks, PART 2

So, the insurance career I've recently partaken in has denied me the time I would normally spend all summer watching movies. As it stands, I've only seen a collection of the movies released this summer, and not the big ones that you would think either.

This turn of events both frightens and saddens me. Luckily, measures have been taken to remedy this.

Regardless, I have managed to catch a few flicks, and this is what I think about them.

SUBMARINE

Fun Welsh indie flick, reminiscent of Harold & Maude and Rushmore (mostly because of its teenage outcast protagonist, played very well by Craig Roberts) that balances the sweet and the sour of teen love and family life. Roberts plays Oliver Tate, and the movie is about his adventures. I can't really describe the rest, just know that it's worthy of checking out. A strong feature debut from Richard Ayoade, the actor from Garth Merengi's Dark Place and The IT Crowd. If I had a complaint, it would be that the soundtrack should've been better. That's it.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

This is one of those movies where the charm and chemistry of the leads takes it FAR beyond the premise. Justin Timberlake is very good as the male counterpart who wants to have sex with his friend Mila Kunis. She is also very good. Like I said the chemistry between these two is great, but my problems with the film stem from the horrendous direction, which manages to be edited in the most ADD, over-covered way imaginable (since Easy A, director Will Gluck's previous film, actually)/ Additionally, every scene is plastered with pop music to the point of annoyance. Still, not bad, probably worth a rental. (No, I didn't see the other movie that was practically the same with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, but I heard it was little better, mostly because the lead characters had lives outside of just boning each other). 


HARRY POTTER AND THE BLAH BLAH PART 2

It's the last Harry Potter movie. It's just as well made as the last one. I would have preferred if they just combined both movies into one epic, 4 hour event, but it's ok. What's strange is that I was more emotionally invested in the book than with the film. (I refer to certain characters' deaths that had more of an impact in print). And the coda in the future was just plain ridonkulous. Still, a great end to a series of films that actually kept getting better as they were produced.

ATTACK THE BLOCK

This movie was pretty kick ass. There was a lot of hype from the internet movie sites, hyping this thing to end, calling it the end all be all of geek cinema, which is not true. In fact, the over-hype may have soured me a little bit. However, this movie was pretty awesome, harkening back to an old school John Carpenter feel (down to the score, even). And the creature design is pretty terrific. So terrific that I kept drawing it on whatever I could find.

This took a good half hour out of my day.

But as an antidote to most of the big budget blockbuster alien flicks, this invasion flick about a gang of London punks who defend their building tenement from neon teeth beasts was far superior. Well worth checking out, even if it didn't quite live up to the hype, in my mind.


30 MINUTES OR LESS

If you saw the preview, you saw the movie. It's not necessarily that it's a bad movie, just that there was literally nothing more to it than what was shown in the preview, aside from a few good Aziz Ansari one liners. (You're not a grown up, last night you had a Lunchables for dinner!) But this tale of inept crooks who strap a bomb to a pizza guy's chest so that he robs a bank for them plays off like Elmore Leonard-lite, and that's not necessarily a compliment. Even more frustrating is (SPOILER ALERT) there are really no consequences for anyone given the survival rates of the characters. Good for a few laughs, but you can wait for Netflix for a breezy 80 minute time. Sorely lacking the style and wit of the director/star's previous outing of Zombieland, which leads you to believe that flick's strength was the doing of the screenwriters.

I've also managed to check out a few flicks at home, as well that are worth checking out. Never Let Me Go was like a very well made but depressing art house version of The Island. I also liked The Adjustment Bureau quite a bit until the literal dues ex machina in the end. Make Believe is a fun documentary about teen illusionists that's winning and fun. And speaking of illusionists, The Illusionist, the follow up to Triplets of Belleville, is another interesting animation using pictures and very little dialogue. It's also depressing as fuck. And finally, there's I Love You Phillip Morris, which felt like a Coen Brothers movie, anchored by a fascinating story and a not at all annoying lead performance by Jim Carrey.

That's what I've seen lately. I also finally caught Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is pretty awesome, and I'm glad I didn't see it before Super 8, because that movie owes a LOT to Close Encounters. Anyway, I'm hoping to catch the Apes and Captain America before summer ends.

OH, and friend of the blog OMAR saw Colombiana, and his voice mail to me consisted of "Oh my goodness... oh my goodness... oh my goodness. You have to let me know when you see it. It does things I've never seen in an action movie before."

So there you have it. Straight from Omar's mouth directly to your ears eyes.