Hancock

Impressions before seeing it
I've been wanting to see Hancock for a while because I liked the idea of one lazy, disgruntled superhero who is generally hated by everyone. Technically he can afford to be a dick because it's not like there's other superheroes people can call.

How was it?
At first it was just alright, a collection of scenes demonstrating Hancock's (Will Smith) poor attitude and recklessness followed by Ray (Jason Bateman) teaching him to be a better person and hero. The action sequences weren't really that exciting, to be honest, but Ray's wholesome optimism proved a good foil to Hancock's sourness and their scenes together were more interesting to me.

And then came a cool reveal that caused the movie to take a COMPLETE left turn. No need to spoil it, but I didn't see it coming and was pleased when the movie became something I wasn't expecting it to be. One problem I had was that Hancock's powers seemed unlimited. The extent of what he could and couldn't do (if there was anything he couldn't do) was not clearly defined. Maybe he was supposed to be that powerful to emphasize that his only flaw/weakness was his personality, and maybe it didn't matter how unclear it was because of what happens later, but it still bothered me because there is usually some sort of cap on how powerful someone is. Even Superman has a weakness. Oh and also the ending felt a little too Hollywood for my liking, but I guess that was to be expected because it's that blockbuster type of movie.

Recommendation
If you want to see this for some cool action sequences involving superpowers then I wouldn't recommend it because that part isn't really anything special. But if you have an interest in the story side of the superhero genre and are up for a new angle, you might enjoy Hancock.

This Week in Television - Jan. 24-28, 2011

The Cape
Not really a fan of Vinnie Jones. He's like a male Michelle Rodriguez, always playing the tough guy with attitude, but with some campiness thrown in for comic relief. I didn't find this episode to be as interesting as it wanted me to, but when that bearded guy was dressed as The Cape I was expecting him to die because of what happened to the Kick-Ass impersonator in Kick-Ass and I'm glad it went another direction instead. Good for Trip for not opening the door to someone who was a stranger to him, but he's still boring and the flashbacks of the father/son scenes fail to tug at my heartstrings. I'm not a cold person, I'm moved all the time, but Vince's relationship with his family is just so generic and stiff, and I think they should've tried harder to make it memorable in order for viewers to sympathize with them, rather than automatically expect pathos just because his family...exists.

Community
This was a Pierce episode for sure. It may have somewhat resembled the episode from last season where Annie got him to write the Greendale theme song and he wanted to prove how creative he was, but this time we got some of his back story in the old commercial clip. It explains a lot about Pierce's "Michael Scott" quality wherein he thinks he's the coolest and funniest person in the room yet needs everyone else to think so, too. It was kind of nice to see the kids take to him, even if it made them think drugs were awesome. By the way, didn't appreciate Dean Pelton pointing out the play's structure resembling the deceptive nature of drugs. It was already clear to me and Community isn't the kind of show that spells things out for viewers that way. But I always enjoy the Dean's weird fetishes (Jeff in a coffin, Jeff in cat ears, bumblebee costumes). The play was also a good way for Chang to start integrating himself into the group, though perhaps he won't quite be there until Jeff can accept a hug from him without shoving him away.

The Office
I'd heard Ricky Gervais was going to show up as David Brent, his character from the British version of The Office, and I knew that if he crossed paths with Michael Scott, they would get along famously. But that short cold opening was just awesome to watch, and funny. David would probably be the only person in the world who completely 100% gets Michael's sense of humour - even moreso than Holly or Kevin, who have been known to enjoy some of his jokes. Andy's seminar was funny but might have worked better in an earlier season, because the joke about so many people in the office knowing nothing about business success has kind of been well established by now. Enjoyed Michael's Greek character too, but Jim's little B-story about his shunned childhood friend was flat with an uninteresting payoff, and the Scrabble thing was sort of done in the first season of Parks and Recreation, although in this case Erin wasn't losing on purpose.

Parks and Recreation
Since I am a big fan of both Ron and Andy, an episode where they are bonding like buddies can be nothing but awesome. For a while I think Ron was liking him better than April for an assistant, but then Andy started talking about his personal drama and that is something April would never do to Ron. Gotta love Andy's charming idiocy though: "Leslie, I'm checking your symptoms online and it says you might have connectivity problems." Also nice to see Ann finally getting mad (and April admitting some respect for it) and Ben warming up to Leslie. Rob Lowe was funny in this episode, too.

30 Rock
It may have been an easy joke, but I laughed really hard at the Mel Gibson montage inserted into the telethon footage. It was cool that the writers got something to do in this episode, because we don't see them much anymore, but the Lutz storyline just didn't feel right. It was too weird seeing everyone be nice to him, and even more alienating seeing those "talking head" shots of Lutz confessing things to a mirror. I'm not sure whether the scene with Tracy and Liz making up was supposed to be touching or just sort of a parody of something touching, but it certainly wasn't as effective as Liz and Jack's scene last week, or as funny as their ending that consisted of giving each other meaningful looks that somehow turned into karate poses and fighting stances. Also like how Dennis was involved in Liz's vision of herself at rock bottom. He was her worst boyfriend, after all. Bonus points for referencing Charles Widmore as an A-lister who owns an island.

Fringe
This episode's reveals were not surprising: I knew immediately there was going to be something suspicious about Peter at the beginning of the episode when Walter said he'd heard the front door and Peter told him he was imagining it, and when they said there was a mole at Massive Dynamic I knew it was "Dr. Falcon" because they made a point of showing him shoot some shifty looks. But I liked the scene where Walter discovered what Peter had done. When he asked him "If you've done nothing wrong, then why didn't you tell us?" I thought that Peter wasn't answering because he knew it was wrong, but in hindsight there is that additional layer where the roles were once reversed, and Walter had his big secret about Peter's origin but insisted he'd done nothing wrong. Interesting.

Hero of the Week: Andy from Parks and Recreation, for impressing Ron Swanson (the meat tornado was a great suggestion) and continuing his loyalty to April, even if her forehead was all sweaty and gross.

Douchebag of the Week: Lutz from 30 Rock. Sometimes everyone seems to hate him for no reason, and sometimes that reason is clear. Very clear.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season Five

Since season 2, Curb Your Enthusiasm has made use of season-length story arcs. This one had two: Larry's friend Richard Lewis needing a kidney transplant while Larry, who is a match, desperately tries to find someone else to do it so he doesn't have to give up his own kidney; and Larry hiring a private investigator (played by Mekhi Phifer) to find out if he is adopted after his sick father tells him as much. Both of these storylines offered a lot of funny encounters that are the show's staple, and in the season finale they tied together nicely so that the season began and ended with Larry having near-death experiences.

I think the reason Curb fans love the show (and, to a lesser extent, Seinfeld as well) is for its honesty about human flaws. Larry can be selfish and dishonest a lot of the time, but he is our hero because he doesn't take it lying down when other people exhibit these qualities or when he is caught in an unfortunate misunderstanding. As the season 5 poster suggests, we are all like him in some way, even if we don't want to admit it. If you find neurotic people annoying then you might not enjoy this show, but I find it funny and entertaining, even if a little bit predictable at times because the plots are written in the style Larry David used on Seinfeld where things come full circle at the end of the episode. And since George Costanza was based on Larry David, I sort of think of this show as a documentary about George.

Best Episode: "Kamikaze Bingo", not just for its awesome title, but because I found it to be the funniest. Larry insults a Japanese man by making fun of his father, who was a kamikaze pilot in the war but didn't actually complete any suicide runs, and accuses an old woman of cheating at Bingo.

This Week in Television - Jan. 17-21, 2011

Sorry for the late post. Didn't have time to catch up on the Thursday/Friday shows until now.

The Cape
I'm not sure if the former cape owner coming back this soon in the series is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it's soon enough for "Kozmo" to justify taking it back and lets Vince earn his right to keep it, but if they had done that storyline later on down the road it would give the viewer a bigger sense of a lot being at stake because we'd be invested by then. I don't mind this show, but The Cape's wife and kid are boring. I don't really care to see how they're getting along without him. And I don't think the chess pieces in the desk prank would really happen. I don't know how it works in the U.S., but my experience has been that students never get advanced knowledge of a new kid coming, and they especially wouldn't know where he was going to sit and then plant a visual pun in his desk. I didn't buy that, but somehow I did buy PLAYING CARDS STRAIGHT TO THE JUGULAR!

V
I guess the writers really want people to hate Tyler, because his character wasn't getting any more likable and he just became an even bigger tool by helping Anna fight the Fifth Column. It was also annoying (not to mention cheesy) how they kept having people flash their green V eyes at the camera when it was already clear they were Visitors. It's like those old comedy sketches where someone is wearing a disguise and they pull it down a little to wink at the audience. I think I'm only continuing to watch because it will probably be canceled before there's a third season. But I did kind of like the paralleled scenes of Erica and Anna cajoling each other's kids.

Community
All the Jeff/Annie shippers are going to be pissed at the fake-out where it looked like a rain-soaked Jeff was running to declare his love for her. But as is his nature, he was selfishly going to Rich for advice on becoming a better person. Everyone likes to say Rich is perfect but even a fictional character such as him must be flawed, and I think his flaw is naivete. I guess Chang is in the study group now, although it's somewhat unclear because half the group was unhappy about the decision. LOL @ Abed being referred to as "brown Jamie Lee Curtis".

The Office
Haha the cold opening was kind of a new angle, with Jim's silence causing Dwight to just make of him himself because he was expecting it from Jim. I enjoyed the Andy/Dwight/Darryl storyline of them trying to meet women (or in Darryl's case, just trying to read more. Good for him.) Andy and Dwight are a funny pair, but I think you need Darryl in there as the straight man or else the other two might fly off the handle and get too ridiculous. I also liked the stuff with Michael making his happy and sad videos and then celebrating too early. Creed resolving to do the perfect cartwheel was also funny because it was so unexpected from someone like him.

Parks and Recreation
Interesting to see what everyone was up to while the parks department was closed. Poor Jerry, so talented at a lot of things and a nice guy too, but nobody cares. Ron's "Pyramid of Greatness" was epic. I hope they include it as an insert on the season 3 DVD, but if not I will have to pause it so I can read everything on there. I love when Ann and Leslie do practice dates, they always come out ridiculous (the things Leslie apparently thinks are sexy made me laugh). Like Ann, I was surprised that I kind of liked her and Chris together. And Andy's dedication to April was cute, even if flowers are a little corny. Excellent start to the season.

30 Rock
Wasn't a fan of the storyline with Danny and Jenna acting like a married couple, because it's a gag that's been done many times before elsewhere, and it seemed like it was only there to act as a transparent parallel to Liz and Jack accidentally marrying each other, which was much funnier and more innovative because usually that joke involves drunk people waking up the next morning with rings on their fingers. And I have to admit it was a sweet payoff when Mr. Weinerslav (lol) made Liz and Jack realize how important they are to each other. Like Tina Fey, I don't want to see them in a romantic relationship, but I do love them as friends. Also Angie was annoying, but I laughed at Liz and Pete admitting they would watch a reality show about her. Always great to see Dr. Spaceman - loved when he said Tracy's blood tasted like root beer and some of his bones were missing. But the biggest question is whose chart was more awesome: Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness, or Jack Donaghy's NBC priority pie chart, with The Biggest Loser taking most of the space, followed by "Make it 1997 again through science or magic". I'm assuming 1997 because at that point they had big hits like Friends, Seinfeld, and ER still on the air.

Fringe
It was kind of nice to see Walter have a casual buddy this week (I don't think Bell or The Observer really qualified). And even cooler that it was Christopher Lloyd, in an episode involving some time travel from the year 1985, when Back to the Future was released, which was referenced on a movie marquee last season. IT ALL COMES BACK AROUND! Which is very well, because this episode was kind of about the butterfly effect, or perhaps it should be called "the firefly effect" when dealing with interdimensional travel rather than time travel. Firefly also being the episode title, and the name of a show that once held what is now Fringe's new timeslot. Holy crap, it DOES come back around!

Hero of the Week: A lot of candidates this week... I think I'll have to go with Mr. Weinerslav from 30 Rock. Not just for his hilarious name (though I could've sworn it was Ballslave when he made his first appearance two or three seasons ago), but because Liz and Jack had the most touching moment of the week, and he was responsible for that.

Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Do I even have to explain why?

The Town

Impressions before seeing it
I was only interested because Ben Affleck directed it. Say what you want about his acting, but the dude knows how to make a movie.

How was it?
Sometimes I get a little sick of the heist movies because there's a lot of them, and you can only watch people steal large quantities of cash or valuables so many times before it gets old. But in this case, The Town feels like The Departed but with bank robbers instead of gangs. Definitely not a bad thing at all.

I actually became engrossed in it due to the lack of heists. There a few bank robbery scenes, yes, but the opening one is probably the most impacting, and needs to be because it traumatizes the bank teller (Rebecca Hall) for the rest of the movie. Then we get a lot of scenes laced with tension as one of the robbers (Ben Affleck) falls in love with her, the most violent of their crew (Jeremy Renner) is in danger of being identified by her, an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) is on their trail, and Affleck just wants to get out of there. That last one did make me laugh a little because heist movies always seem to have that "one last job and them I'm out!" component, but it worked in a way that didn't feel cliched. My one complaint is that Hall should've been more suspicious of Affleck, because he was making it obvious by immediately asking "Did they say who did it?" and other questions every time she mentioned a crime that he committed. Or maybe that's just because I was on the outside looking in and already knew he was guilty.

Recommendation
It's really solid and entertaining, with enough action and drama to please everyone. Again, I'd probably recommend it to fans of The Departed or Gone Baby Gone.

Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Razor is a TV movie produced between the third and fourth seasons of Battlestar Galactica, which seemed a little late to me since it takes place in season two. It tells the story of the Battlestar Pegasus before it was found by the Galactica, and while the Pegasus arc was my favourite part of season two, I found this to be rather dull. Those three season two episodes were awesome because it was the main cast from the Galactica, whom I loved, against the crew of the Pegasus, whom I hated, in a civil war. Razor keeps the main cast to a minimum and gives us nearly two hours of those pricks I was hoping not to see again. I mean, okay, the message of the movie is that sometimes you have to make awful and difficult decisions for the greater good, but Admiral Cain seems to do it without hesitation or remorse, and that's why I never liked her. I feel like Razor was a late attempt to make the audience sympathize with the crew of the Pegasus, including a new character who was introduced as the lead in this and then killed off, almost making her pointless as a part of the series as a whole. I don't know if there were fans begging for the Pegasus' backstory, but I can honestly say I was not curious.

So about 80-90% of this was dull and pointless to me, but there was a small amount of more important information that I appreciated: we got some flashbacks of a young Adama discovering human/Cylon hybrids, and a very interesting tidbit about Starbuck that I suppose no one but the viewers are aware of now. But all of that stuff could have easily been slipped into a regular episode, avoiding the need for this pointless story about horrible characters I care little about. To be clear, this is a matter of circumstantial taste. I am really loving the series itself, and this wasn't technically a bad movie, I just hate the crew of the Pegasus, and since they were the stars of Razor, I wasn't feeling this one.

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death

Impressions before seeing it
I've seen all of the other Wallace and Gromit shorts, plus the movie, and always enjoyed them. A Matter of Loaf and Death is the most recent short. Should be more of the same cute family fun.

How was it?
The Wallace and Gromit movies follow a loose formula: Wallace is a sweet, cheery guy and a brilliant inventor but is otherwise simple and naive, so when he gets himself into a dangerous situation it's always up to his intelligent (but mute, being a dog) friend Gromit to figure out a way to save him. They're light and family friendly, and funny but moreso in a cute way that makes you (or at least me) smile rather than laugh. Loaf and Death was actually a little bit darker in that Wallace fell in love with a serial killer who was secretly trying to kill him, but emphasis on the "little bit" because it's still done in an age appropriate way.

Wallace has had love interests before, so that was nothing new, but in this one they gave Gromit a love interest in the form of a female poodle. If there is another short, she may even make an appearance in it. There was a fun climactic battle at the end, but in general this short was more of the same, which is not a bad thing.

Recommendation
You'll probably enjoy it if you're already a Wallace and Gromit fan, but I understand people not liking when something has a cutesy family quality. I don't always like that myself, but I'm fine with it if it's done well, like here or in Pixar movies.

Dinner for Schmucks

Impressions before seeing it
The commercials looked like weird, wacky fun, but then I didn't hear much about it, so as much as I wanted to see it there was also a part of me that was slightly worried it would be bad. I am a big fan of Steve Carell, but his movie career can be hit and miss.

How was it?
Dinner for Schmucks is one of those movies where a new person comes into someone's life and then unintentionally proceeds to ruin it. If that's too much pain and awkwardness for you, you may want to skip this one, though it does have a happy ending. From the footage I'd seen, I actually thought the dinner in the title would take up most of the movie, but it doesn't come until near the end. The first chunk is spent building Tim (Rudd) and Barry's (Carell) relationship and its disastrous effect on the former's life, which ultimately is necessary for the film's climax when Tim takes pity on Barry, a well-meaning but lonely and pathetic man. Not all of the jokes work - and there are some that go on too long, such as a sequence where Tim hurts his back and is trying to crawl across his apartment for a back brace - but there are several hilarious parts, so I was satisfied. After years of practice on The Office, Steve Carell is really good at playing dumb/gullible, and it was really cool to see some international TV funnymen lend a few laughs as well: Little Britain's David Walliams, Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement, and The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd.

I also have to mention that I love the mouse dioramas that Barry makes. I am a sucker for miniature models and replicas, and I had already seen Carell's appearance on The Late Show where he presented an awesome diorama of the talk show set, complete with a Letterman mouse conversationally waving a little pencil. Then I watched the movie to discover they play a fairly large role, such as a scene where a series of diorama photos tell the story of Barry and his wife - which, thanks to an impressive amount of detail and expression in the mice, wound up being kind of moving. So to me, those alone were worth the Blu-ray purchase. There's a featurette about how they were built, too. Yay!

Recommendation
I think I pretty much laid out all of the things you may or may not like about this movie, so it's up to you. Personally I really enjoyed it and was relieved not to have another Date Night on my shelf.

Nothing But Trouble

Impressions before seeing it
I saw this movie a really, really long time ago. Possibly the year it was released, which would have been 1991. I only remembered a couple of little fragments, like Dan Aykroyd in his creepy old man makeup, and as one of the overweight, handicapped junkyard twins. Thought it might be a crazy, obscene comedy that was forgotten over time.

How was it?
Let's just say it was forgotten for a reason. It may have been funny back in 1991, but it isn't now because the humour is very outdated, and a little sparse. The acting feels very 90's as well, especially from Demi Moore, who gave the worst performance in the movie but isn't widely considered to be a great actress anyway.

There were a couple of things I did appreciate. It was kind of cool to see Dan Aykroyd and John Candy both playing dual roles, although their characters mainly just relied on physical appearances for laughs. Also the surrealism in this movie was interesting. The judge's (Aykroyd) mansion and all of it's contraptions and booby traps were completely unrealistic but kind of cool to see. I think it was more of an 80's/early 90's thing to put fantastical inventions and machinery into movies, because it doesn't seem to be as common these days. It was all entertaining, but the script had too many problems for me to say that I liked it. I don't think Chevy Chase's and Demi Moore's characters were fleshed out enough, because their romance is supposed to be the heart of the movie, and they're supposed to be the heroes, but I didn't find myself caring about them. Also some of the writing felt a little illogical - especially the last few scenes, where things seemed to happen randomly for little or no reason at all, followed by an abrupt cartoon ending. Nothing But Trouble is unique in a way, but weird in a worse way.

Recommendation
To be honest, this movie is probably actually better if you turn down the sound and throw on some music. The visuals will be entertaining enough and you wouldn't really be missing anything funny. So if you ever see it, do that.

This Week in Television - Jan. 10-14, 2011

The Cape
Thought I'd check out the premiere, and while it lacked the cool super powers it was a lot better than No Ordinary Family. I like that Vince was trained by circus people, each of them lending their unique talents. I like that his death was inadvertantly faked, giving him a stronger and more interesting reason to keep his identity a secret than the classic "I don't want to endanger my loved ones" excuse (though that's still a part of it, too). I also like the little chapter titles - something I don't think a show has done since Frasier - and the convenience store robbers calling the clerk "Borat" when he was played by the fat dude who was actually in Borat. Being a comic book type show, it did have some eye-rolling cheesy lines as well, but I suppose that's acceptable if you make sure nothing else is cheesy, and for the most part it was solid. That's how you do it, No Ordinary Family, not with loads of cliches or predictability or Michael Chiklis.

V
The creepiness of Anna eating a rat was nullified (or perhaps intensified, I'm not quite sure which) by the awfully fake-looking special effects. I also laughed a little at the commercial cliffhanger fake-out where they revealed Erica's face in Joshua's memories and then came back and said "he remembers being taken down by Erica Evans, but there's nothing of his collaborators!" I understand Ryan wanting to protect his daughter and everything, but the thing about blackmail is this: when someone is blackmailing you, it means they want something from you. That gives you almost as much power over them as they have over you, because if they do what they're threatening then they won't get what they want from you, and if they can afford that then the threat's probably not that serious. ...But since it's Anna, I wouldn't call her bluff on this one. Oh, and the scene with Erica and Malik in the car didn't quite work for me. I know it was supposed to be all tense and cool as they both had their suspicions about each other, but it seemed really forced and lacked subtlety the way they both just immediately questioned each other about where they were. It felt off to me.

True Grit

Impressions before seeing it
Never seen the original, but I enjoy the work of all the names on that poster, and westerns can be fun.

How was it?
True Grit was made like a classic golden-era western, of which I have seen a few over the years. It's straightforward and simple, with nothing complex or ambiguous about its story, because that type of movie was probably intended only as pure entertainment for working class males who don't necessarily like to do a lot of thinking. It also helps that some of the performances, especially those by Josh Brolin (who isn't in it that much, in case you're a huge fan) and Hailee Steinfeld (who is in most of the scenes and carried the film amazingly for an actress her age), feel like they were taken right from the 50's/60's thanks to their speech patterns. Bridges and Damon felt more modern, but no less good for it. It was a joy in itself to watch Rooster (Bridges) mumble, stumble, and deadpan his character, and to appreciate the nuance of LaBoeuf's (Damon) slight lisp after sustaining a tongue injury. I can't think of any complaints or faults, everything was just really well done.

Recommendation
I do enjoy complex movies, but sometimes an "easy" one is all you need. True Grit is just here for fun, but it's pure entertainment without being a blockbuster, and that is what makes it great. Although the trailers can be misleading, because it doesn't feel as dark and gritty - like the title suggests, at least to me - as, say, No Country for Old Men. But it's definitely solid and enjoyable.

Battlestar Galactica - Season Three

At the end of season two, we took a startling but very interesting jump a few years ahead, where much of the crew is living on New Caprica. It lasted for about five episodes in season three, and they were a great five, but I was pleased when it ended and everyone was reunited again. It could have gone on too long, but it didn't. I was also pleased to see Roslin return to the presidency, coming full circle in bringing things back to normal again.

Looking at the season as a whole, it was actually kind of epic if you consider what everyone went through in those 20 episodes. In a couple of dark episodes, some established characters died, the fleet came closer to finding Earth, four of the final five Cylons discovered themselves and each other in a very cool scene, and loyalties between humans and Cylons were split further when signs pointed to them co-existing peacefully as a better solution. There wasn't a bad episode anywhere; I love these characters too much to get bored with them.

Best Episode: There were so many great moments this season: The crew reuniting on The Galactica after escaping New Caprica, Adama challenging Tyrol to a boxing match, Kat's heroic rescue through the radiation belt, Adama's reaction to Starbuck's birthday card, all of the sweet moments between Adama and Roslin, and the last few minutes of the season finale (which, while I predicted the twists and reveals, still awed and excited me because of the way everything was executed.) I guess I'll go with the finale, "Crossroads: Part 2", where Baltar's trial comes to a close after a strong speech from Apollo, four people simultaneously discover they are Cylons, and after correctly guessing that and who was piloting the ship ghosting Apollo, my world gets rocked anyway.

This Week in Television - Jan. 3-7, 2011

V
I said last season that V seems like a show full of morons, and it looks like things haven't really changed. Well, I guess it's not the characters who are morons, it's the writers. Anytime someone has a good train of thought going, whoever else is in the room apparently needs it spelled out for them in case the audience is too dumb to figure it out. Example: when Marcus asked Anna why Ryan would help the visitors, I already knew the answer because it was obvious they had his daughter for blackmail, and Marcus should've been smart enough to know that, too. But Anna also killed a visitor with her tail, so this show still has its moments. When Joshua appeared to have no memory of The Fifth Column, I thought Anna had set up Lisa because she knew she'd check on him, but I guess not because given this show's straightforwardness there would have been a follow-up scene confirming as much.

I think I'll wait for everything else to come back before doing more hero/douchebag awards. V's characters are kind of bland picks for either.

The Fighter

Impressions before seeing it
Continuing some early prep work for the Oscars (hopefully I'll get around to True Grit next week) with The Fighter. I wouldn't normally be interested but I like Amy Adams and Christian Bale, and Mark Wahlberg can be good in the right movie. Plus, you know, the Oscar buzz.

How was it?
At first I was surprised to see Darren Aronofsky listed as an executive producer, but then The Fighter does sort of resemble The Wrestler: a hand-held, documentary-type feel, a down-on-his-luck fighter who just wants to do what he loves, the somewhat trashy woman he falls in love with, and some family drama on the side. But since Aronofsky didn't direct, this one is more optimistic.

I'm not into boxing, but I don't think you really need to be in order to watch this. It's more about Mickey's (Mark Wahlberg) struggle to become good at what he enjoys, with and without the help of his brother Dicky (Christian Bale), who is a better fighter but a little past his prime due to drug problems. As I mentioned, there's also a bunch of family drama from their mother and sisters, all of whom get annoying. Under other circumstances I would rate it as average for an unremarkable story, but the performances bump it up a notch. Christian Bale especially stole the movie with a lively performance and mumbly Boston accent (hard to believe he's British). Adams and Wahlberg were good too, as well as Melissa Leo playing Mickey and Dicky's mother, but they didn't stand out quite as much.

Recommendation
I liked The Wrestler better, so I think it's more apt to say "see The Wrestler if you liked The Fighter" rather than the other way around. But it's not a disappointing watch by any means, especially if you are a fan of any of those actors. It just may not dazzle you unless you're really into boxing.

American Beauty

Impressions before seeing it
I have seen it before, but not since it first came out on video, which was like 11-12 years ago. I remembered liking it but it was time to refresh my memory.

How was it?
For a little while I thought I was going to decide that I didn't like it after all. With the possible exception of Jane (Thora Birch, who nearly nullified her likability with an occasionally faulty performance), all of the characters are so majorly flawed that it is hard to like them. But as it progressed, some characters - such as Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Ricky (Wes Bentley) - grew more likable, while others - such as Carolyn (Annette Bening) and Frank (Chris Cooper) - did not.

But I think the point of the movie is that the beauty is in these flaws. Flaws are real, real things are more beautiful than fake things, therefore flaws are beautiful. Ricky understands this, having a clear interest in Jane instead of Angela (Mena Suvari), the girl that all the other men are immediately attracted to (though I personally think Thora Birch is prettier than Mena Suvari). Angela tries too hard, but Jane is real. Lester, creepily drooling over Angela for the entire movie, only realizes this moments before his death when she admits to being a virgin. His fantasy was too much of an ideal and thus no longer appealing. And as his life flashes before his eyes, he remembers Jane as a child (children can't help but be real because they're not experienced enough to lie convincingly), and Carolyn as the joyful woman she used to be before becoming self-centered and pretentious. He's not even mad at his killer: all of these horrible people are what made his life beautiful, because the misery was real.

Recommendation
It took some warming up to, but once I got what it was going for I appreciated the raw honesty of it, even if many of the characters were annoying. But it's an interesting study of perceptions and human life, one of those classics that should be seen.

Black Swan

Impressions before seeing it
Darren Aronofsky is a good director, but all of his films tend to be dark and/or depressing, so I was prepared for that, and from the trailers I could tell this was going to be a weird trip that messes with your head. I went into it with the mindset that the main character was not necessarily reliable and thus not everything seen would be reality.

How was it?
It's definitely one of those weird, artsy films that don't make sense if you take everything literally, but unlike others of that variety I felt I actually extracted some meaning from this one. To me, Black Swan is a film about obsession. Not just obsession with art or performance, but pure, unbridled obsession. Nina (Natalie Portman, in a very intense and demanding role that she does pull off perfectly) wants the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. Actually it's dual roles, and her director says she is perfect for the dance of the White Swan, but is unable to comprehend that of the Black Swan because she doesn't know how to loosen up. In other words, white swan = control, black swan = chaos, a dichotomy present all the way through with loads of black vs. white imagery. For example, Nina is practically always seen in white and Lily (Mila Kunis), who Nina perceives as her rival, is always wearing black. As she struggles to impress the director by properly dancing the Black Swan, Nina spirals into a weird, confusing, paranoid, and sometimes creepy version of reality that reflects her anxieties over failure and imperfection. Her obsession is complete to the point that I don't think there is a single scene in the movie that isn't in some way related to her concerns over this role. But I think the biggest key to understanding Black Swan is to pay attention to some of the things the play's director says, most noticeably his summary of the story of Swan Lake and when he tells Nina that the only person in her way is herself. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say it kind of gave me goosebumps.

Recommendation
Art films can be hard to like and I wasn't sure how this one would register, but I was pleasantly surprised when it made sense to me and, toward the second half, got me on the edge of my seat. I didn't expect it to be so memorably haunting but I think it will stick with me and, again, brilliantly played by Natalie Portman. Still hard to recommend because I know it's not for everyone, but I really liked it.

Extract

Impressions before seeing it
I liked the cast and had been wanting to see it, but even after buying the Blu-ray ($12 bargain!) I avoided reading the back because the less you know about a movie going in, the better the experience is.

How was it?
Including the extract product as part of the poster offers one meaning of the movie's title, but before seeing it I always had the other meaning in mind: the verb meaning "to remove." I think it applies just as well, because there are plenty of removals and separations going on in Extract. And then there's Joel (Jason Bateman), who isn't "extracting" what he wants out of life. His relationship with his wife (Kristen Wiig) contains no intimacy, his persistent neighbour (David Koechner) is annoyingly boring, his extract plant is hit with a tedious lawsuit, a hot new employee (Mila Kunis) is tempting him, and a friend of his (Ben Affleck, in probably the funniest role in the movie) keeps talking him into drugs and dumb schemes. The fun comes in watching these messes unfold.

I like Mike Judge, but I don't know if I can say that anything he's done was actually hilarious. Yes, Office Space has become a cult hit, and it is funny, but like Extract I feel that the laughs are limited and rarely out loud. Just my personal sense of humour, I'm sure many would disagree. But if a comedy can still be fun to watch without being really joke-heavy (let's call this one joke-medium), I can be accepting of such a movie, and I did laugh, so Extract was a little better than average.

Recommendation
The cast did a great job, and if you're more in sync with Mike Judge's humour than I am, you'll probably enjoy it. Either way, it has entertainment value.

I Love You, Man

Impressions before seeing it
Given the cast (which I like) and the trailers, I thought I Love You, Man was a Judd Apatow movie, but it turns out he had nothing to do with it. That's fine, I would have been interested either way.

How was it?
There is a certain honesty to this movie. Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is one of very few heterosexual male movie characters to have no male friends. And as he tries repeatedly to make some in time for his wedding, it just gets awkward and weird because Peter is not a man's man. Like romance, a friendship cannot be forced; it must happen organically, because trying too hard to make somebody like you is not a quality that anyone appreciates. Which is why Peter's friendship with Sydney (Jason Segel) works. He wasn't set up with him and he wasn't trying to get his attention, they just bumped into each other and hit it off.

I suppose the success of this movie depends on whether the friendship between these two characters appeals to you. Personally I enjoyed watching them hang out, and I know most people can identify with the dilemma of balancing relationships so that your loved ones are satisfied with the amount of time you spend with them. There are plenty of laughs as well, and a lot of familiar comedic actors showing up. Not too shabby.

Recommendation
It does kind of have a standard "chick flick" formula, but it's entertaining, funny, and honest, so I hardly noticed until after the fact. But it probably would have been a tad better if Judd Apatow had produced it.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Impressions before seeing it
I haven't read the books and actually had no clue what this was about, but from the hype and praise surrounding the series I gathered that there would be mystery and excitement, and perhaps some action.

How was it?
I have to admit that the first few minutes bored me, and that's not a good way to start a movie - especially knowing it was going to be two and a half hours long - so I spent the first bit hoping for it to pick up. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, being a Swedish film and not a Hollywood movie, takes its time and doesn't rush anything. But for those as much in the dark as I was, let me be clear about what kind of movie it is: a murder mystery story that, in my humble opinion, would have been dull if not for the execution and the characters. The murder under investigation is over 40 years old, and the investigators are a man who is soon going to jail for libel and a pierced and tattooed computer hacker. The suspect list is an entire family tree dating back to that time period. So there's a few interesting elements that make it unique.

But as I said, it tends to be slow in spots and the running time almost seems excessive. The second half of the film did improve and it held my interest because I kept wanting to see where things were going, although when the killer was revealed I can't say I was truly shocked or excited by it. Not that I saw it coming or anything, I just kind of went "Oh. Okay." And then it started to feel like the third Lord of the Rings movie, where it seems like it should be over but they just keep tacking on more and more endings, though in hindsight I think each of them was necessary and appropriate.

Recommendation
It only fulfilled one of my three expectations (plenty of mystery but somewhat low on excitement and action), but it was generally well written, directed, and acted. Given its length and how slow it is, it seems like it's probably faithful to the book, but I'm just guessing. I don't know if I liked it enough to watch it again, but I did end up liking it. Probably will not see the upcoming American remake. Come on, guys, there's no need to remake a good foreign movie just because some people don't like subtitles.