Andy Gapin

I had really been starting to fall behind with keeping up with movies lately, so I took some time this weekend to watch a whole bunch of them. Rather than make individual posts for each of them, I’m just going to do a bunch of short little blurbs here about each one.

Step Brothers

I can’t believe how long it took me to get around to seeing this one. I also can’t believe it was as good as it was. I watched it by myself at home and was in stitches laughing alone in my living room the entire time. It was great. There were multiple quotable lines before the title was even shown. I need to watch it again just to remember all of the things that prompted me to say “I need to remember that line” to myself. I actually texted a friend during the movie and told her that she needed to see it because I needed her to be able to get the quotes.

I was pretty right on with how stupid it was, but I did not expect it to be this level of hilarious. It slightly redeemed Will Ferrell for me. Not that I was really down on him, but just that I usually feel that he is better when the movie doesn’t revolve around him. It was also a great performance by John C. Reilly who I normally consider to be the less funny of the two John Cs–the other being John C. McGinley.

Rating: A-

The Rocker

Rainn Wilson is one of the best things about The Office, but The Rocker kind of confirms for me that he is extremely one dimensional. His character in this movie is about 50% Dwight. It’s not a horrible thing, his ability to really pull off the whole dopey asshole thing makes him perfect for this kind of role, but I wouldn’t expect much else from him.

The Rocker is good for a few laughs, has a cute girl (Emma Stone who is currently filming Zombieland), and has some great cameos (Will Arnett and Jane Krakowski to name a couple), but it is a complete cookie cutter Hollywood comedy that follows a storyline that you know without even watching. I’d watch again, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t spend half the movie playing around with my phone.

Rating: C+

Confessions Of A Shopaholic

Yes, I went to go see this. On my own. My sexuality may never recover, but I, for some odd reason, really wanted to see this as soon as I first saw the trailer. I don’t know why, I don’t like shopping or fashion and I’m not big on materialism at all, but I guess I like romantic comedies…and Isla Fisher. So I went to see this…by myself. There were three other dudes in the theater. One was a father with his daughter and the other two were there with their girlfriends.

All that being said, any movie with John Goodman and/or John Lithgow in it is worth seeing. ANY MOVIE. Even if either of them are only in it for ten seconds. Seriously though, I actually liked this movie a lot. I laughed quite a bit and realized that Krysten Ritter is really cute in an odd kind of way.

I’m going to save myself a little humiliation by stopping there.

Rating: B

The Wrestler

I don’t like wrestling at all, but this was really, really good. I did not expect it to be as bloody as it was, but I think it all fit pretty well. Out of all of the movies that I watched this weekend, this was the only one that made me feel kind of depressed. I really felt for him and kept wanting him to just say the right things to his daughter and not risk his life anymore. I wanted things to work out for him and even though it was obvious that they never were going to, it was still a big disappointment every time his life got even worse.

And despite the fact that this falls into the whole thing of being a movie that takes place in Jersey, but only shows the really crappy parts of the state, I think it was probably the best story of any of the movies I saw this weekend.

Rating: A-

Coraline

I was a little afraid that this was going to end up being a little too Nightmare Before Christmasy, but it really wasn’t at all. It had a similar feel, but definitely didn’t just try to adapt a different story to the same film.

I think the thing that I really like about stop-motion these days is that it isn’t overdone at all. It’s really only used every once in a while for full length movies and when it is used, it’s awesome and the visuals are always great.

Everything about this film was awesome. Even Dakota Fanning, who I sometimes just want to punch in the face, was great.

Definitely go check this one about as soon as possible.

Rating: A

Slumdog Millionaire

This was far from bad, but I think it was extremely overrated. It’s a great story that is really interesting, but I don’t think it lives up to all of the hype. This isn’t to say that I don’t think it’s worth seeing, it definitely is, but I just don’t feel that it is worthy of getting a nomination for best picture.

I guess the whole reason why this story even happens is because of love, but I feel the love story kind of took away from the film. That just sort of made it just like every other movie ever made.

Rating: B+