Okay, so I am kind of APPALLINGLY behind on this whole blogging-about-movies-I've-seen thing. Part of the problem was that I saw a whole bunch of stinkers in a row, which tested my resolve - and my resolve failed. But since I do want to keep writing about non-stinkers, a quick review of the less-than-awesome flicks I've seen since I last posted, with quick one- or two-sentence reviews!
GNOMEO AND JULIET
Forgettible kids' movie. The Elton John music was fun, and the female character was a little more well-drawn than I expected, but overall it was just kind of there. A few laughs, but no big ones, and I wasn't super emotionally invested. Also, it was in 3D and I still really dislike 3D, so that may have hampered my enjoyment of the movie.
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Forgettable and bland romantic comedy that tried to up its hip quotient by being a little raunchier than you'd expect. Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman were both fine, but the chemistry wasn't really there, and the climactic scene where they finally get back together is so overwrought it almost made me want to laugh. There were a few nice, genuine moments in the movie but for the most part it felt like the creators were reacting to the romantic comedy genre and going left where most romcoms go right (she'll be the commitment-phobe! and we'll let them have lots of sex!) without building any kind of coherent story or relationships.
JUST GO WITH IT
Mean-spirited and dated romantic comedy that totally embraced what it was: an Adam Sandler movie and a romantic comedy. The one thing it had over NSA was that Jennifer Aniston is a talented comedic actress and she really sold some sequences. WHY can't she get a decent movie? WHY? THIS IS THE GREAT MYSTERY OF OUR TIME. I have liked Adam Sandler in other romcoms - The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates in particular - but in this one his character lacked any of the warmth and vulnerability he displayed so well in those two movies. He has maybe one decent sequence in the whole movie where I thought there was a chance the guy wasn't a total asshole. But all in all, kind of a disappointment.
HALL PASS
I've enjoyed a fair number of Farrelly Brothers movies, so I went in with an open mind and for the most part the movie delivered, with likable characters and the expected gross-out humor, but it kind of felt like a watered-down version of their usual formula. There were some moments of inspired lunacy - like the inexplicably, unexpectedly malevolent barista - but for the most part it felt kind of muted, and so for me it doesn't belong in the same bizarre-but-hilarious category as Dumb & Dumber or There's Something About Mary (or even Stuck on You).
UNKNOWN
It's impossible to talk about this movie in any meaningful way without spoiling it, so I'll just say: I've seen the same story done better in a different movie, and I spent most of the movie thinking about how much I loved that other movie, which is never a good sign. Some sequences felt over-long and draggy, and January Jones was straight-up terrible.
