April/May Movies

Oof. Two jobs have been kicking me around. 7 days a week of 10-14 hour days totally depleted me. Still, time was found to watch some films the past two months......

Man Without a Cell Phone (C): A Palestinian slacker gets his political voice as he joins his father in fighting against the local cell tower. A cute, but extremely slight comedy.

The Density of Lesser Animals (B-): A Ghanaian action film? Guess so. The action was passable, but far too many slow stretches extolling the beauties of Ghana and why it's far preferable to stay there then go the U.S. Hey, I'm all for visiting Ghana, I just don't need 10 minutes commercials in the middle of my movie.

Paul (A-): Simon Pegg and Nick Frosts' third film parodying film genres loses a little bite from their first two, due to the less manic direction of Greg Mottola, but it still kept me laughing for nearly the entire time. Seth Rogen hasn't gotten tired for me yet, so his antics as the alien suited me just fine.

Born to Be Wild 3D (B-): Baby monkeys, baby elephants and Morgan Freeman. Pretty much what you expect.

The Human Resources Manager (B): The titular man is forced to go to Romania to bury a co-worker to help his company save face. Minor amusement ensues. Enjoyable enough, but forgettable later.

Before the Fall (B): A young boy is sent to one of Hitler's elite schools to train as a boxer, until he discovers that maybe he's being trained for something else. Cliched, but I like Max Riemelt.

Scream 4 (C+): Good killer reveal, horrible 90 minutes before it took place. Sorry sequel.

Hanna (B+): This one I liked. Good story, nice turns by the stars, didn't feel the need to explain everything. Plus, the world needs more killer children.

I Heart Huckabees (D): Billed as an existential comedy, the question I had was : Why am I watching this crap?

Citizen Ruth (A-):  The funniest abortion comedy I've ever seen.  Alexander Payne has not disappointed me yet.  Looking very forward to "The Descendants" later this year.

Hey Boo! Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird (B-):  A perfectly serviceable documentary about a book I've not read, nor a movie I've seen.

How to Live Forever (B-):  A perfectly serviceable documentary about people discussing why some of us might live to be seriously old, which I'm not near yet.

Fast and Furious (C):  A reasonably serviceable 105 minute set up for the 5th film.  What happened in this film?  Were there cars?

The First Grader (C):  A man in his 80's wants to go to school in Nigeria to learn how to read and write.  I was all set to love this film, but the sheer animosity shown him by nearly all the other characters in the film really threw me off.  He can't have been hated that badly.

Buck (B-):  A documentary about the man who served as an consultant on "The Horse Whisperer".  I guess he's good with horses.  Me. I live in Southern NY, not a lot of horses.

Midnight in Paris (B+):  Finally, Woody Allen directs an enjoyable film after a string of misses.  A writer in Paris ditches his fiancee to visit the giants of yesteryear.  Good storyline, good jokes.  That's all I need from a Woody Allen film.  And it keeps me up to date with seeing all he's directed.

The Wonderful World of Tupperware (B):  A rather boring documentary about how Tupperware is created suddenly transforms halfway thorough into a filmed record of an annual Tupperware bacchanalia, replete with Anita Bryant and white robed Tupperware officials conducting a ritual.  I'm throwing out all my remaining bowls before I'm told to commit suicide by the company.

(There might be typos in this.  I'm working 10 hour days every day of the week.  I was up at 4am today.  I don't have a day off until mid June.  Forgive me.)