Friday, 7/24/09

Orphan - 3 1/2 stars

They didn't screen the movie for critics. For some reason the studios figure that horror fans don't pay attention to critics, so why screen them? Well, why bother screening Transformers for critics then?

I'm pissed that they didn't screen this because it kicked ass. I would have talked about it on the radio, but I didn't see it until Sunday night.

Esther is an evil child. Kate and John are the parents who adopt her. Kate starts to figure out that Esther is a little psycho, but John won't believe her. This is one of those thrillers where the main character knows the truth and can't convince anyone else.

Kate and John already have two kids - Daniel and Max. Max is deaf, and I'm not sure how old she is supposed to be, but she is young enough to ride in a child set and old enough to know sign language. Not sure how many kids that young know sign language that well, but what do I know about it.

I went into this movie without high expectations. I figured it would have some good scares and then I would forget about it in a week. But this is one of those horror movies that I can't wait to take someone else to. Just be aware that it is long (just over two hours) and it doesn't get good until an hour or so in. You just have to be patient.

The Ugly Truth - 2 1/2 stars

The best I can say about this movie is it could have been a lot worse. Katherine Heigl plays a TV news producer (basically her same character from Knocked Up). She doesn't do well with men because she is so controlling that on a first date, she tells the guy how many items on her checklist he matches. When the conversation drags, she also pulls out a list of talking points. That made me laugh, but only because it reminded me of a scene in Monty Python's Meaning of Life where the waiter says "would you like something to talk about?"

Gerard Butler is a guy who has a public access talk show (I didn't know public access existed anymore). His show is called The Ugly Truth. Its the kind of show where he takes calls from lonely women and tells them what men really want and think.

He gets hired by the TV station where Katherine Heigl works and she hates him at first, but eventually she warms up to him. She recognizes that he is good for ratings, but more importantly, she wants him to help her get the good looking doctor that lives next door to her.

If you have seen the trailer, then you know the whole story. Its no spoiler to say that they end up falling in love. I honestly didn't laugh for the first 15 minutes of this movie. Once Gerard Butler shows up, it gets tolerable. I did laugh a few times, but I don't recommend the movie.

Every Little Step - 2 1/2 stars

I feel like I should like this more, but I honestly didn't enjoy it much, and I don't really ever want to see it again. I guess I'm just not into Broadway. At all.

Its kind of like watching an episode of American Idol, but there is no Simon Cowell to keep things entertaining. We watch thousands of singers/dancers/actors auditioning for a revival of A Chorus Line. We get to know a handful of them, so we can be excited when they make the cut, or disappointed when they don't make it. But I didn't think we got to know any of them well enough to really care about them. At least American Idol gives you the back story on a singer or two.

As we watch the hopefuls audition, we are also learning about how A Chorus Line came to be. Michael Bennett interviewed a bunch of his friends, all show-biz hopefuls, and he turned their stories into a show. We also see interviews with a couple of the people who were in the original production in the 70s.

I think how much you like this movie will depend on how interested you are in being a performer. Anyone who has ever gone through an audition can relate to how these kids are feeling. And there is one really powerful moment when one guy gives such a good audition he brings the judges to tears.

G-Force - didn't see

This wasn't screened for critics until Thursday night. This means that the newspaper critics aren't able to make their deadlines for Friday's paper. This means that the movie sucks.

Also, why the hell is it called G-Force? Don't the producers know that G-Force is a cartoon from the 70s? They shouldn't have been able to use that name.