True Grit (2010)

I'm not in the habit of going to the movies. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I went to the movies. It may have been to see I Am Legend, the Will Smith movie. And I'm pretty sure the last movie that my wife and I saw together was Bridges of Madison County. That tells you how much I like going to the movies.

I went to the movies because we subscribe to the Baltimore Sun (that's a newspaper - it's made of paper and is sometimes delivered to your house and has news...sometimes). This newspaper has a contests section and she won 2 tickets to see True Grit. Not being a predictable romantic comedy, my wife had no interest in seeing it. So I rounded up a friend and we went to see the premier in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

True Grit is a remake of the 1969 movie of the same name starring the late John Wayne, Glen Campbell (who used to have a career before the heavy drinking and the run-in's with the law), and Kim Darby.

This new version stars Jeff Bridges as Rooster J. Cogburn, the Marshall for hire, Matt Damon as Texas Ranger La Boeuf (pronounced Le-beef), and Hailee Steinfeld, the up-and-coming 14 year old actress as Mattie Ross, the young girl out to avenge her father's murder, and Josh Brolin as the irrascable Tom Chaney, the murder of said father.

The premise of the movie is that Mattie's father is murdered by a drunkard and she goes to town and hires Rooster Cogburn to find her father's killer and bring him to justice. La Boeuf shows up with a warrant for Chaney's arrest of a different crime. Mattie Ross is a strong determined young lady who will have nothing that is not her way. And together the 3 of them head off into Indian Country to find Chaney.

Though not a comedy, Jeff Bridges plays the character of Cogburn with such flair that it is hysterical. The combination of Rooster with the straight-laced La Boeuf and the head-strong Mattie makes for an excellent combination. Unfortuantely, I had not seen the orignial before I saw this remake. But I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with this movie. In fact, I would say it is my favorite movie of the year. Jeff Bridges deserves an Oscar for his performance. Heck, Hailee Steinfeld deserves one, too.

The movie was directed by the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, and produced by them with the support of Scott Rudin, and Steven Spielberg. True Grit is rated PG-13 for violence and a snake.

I give True Grit, the 2010 remake a full 5 stars.

Netflix Throttling

On Tuesday a coworker stopped by my desk with a couple of Netflix DVD's in his hand. This reminded me that I needed to return my Netflix movie. We dropped them into the mailbox at the corner of our building at the same time.

The next day I checked to see which movie I got and my queue still showed my previous DVD. I emailed that coworker and he said that his movies were received and two new movies showed that they were being delivered.

Okay, Netflix. Pretending that you didn't get my movies? It's not like I'm doing anything that violates the rules. You send me the movie on Thursday. I watch the movie on Thursday night. I put the movie back in the mail on Friday morning. Is that worth messing with me?

Cemetery Junction

Ricky Gervais seems to be the biggest British comedian since Mr. Bean. I got a kick out of him in The Invention of Lying, so when I saw that he was in another British comedy, I quickly added it to my queue.

Ricky isn't the star of this Cemetery Juncton, though he stars in it, but he does direct the flick.

Three bloaks from a blue-collar town are deciding their future when Freddie (Christian Cooke) decides to take up the seemingly more successful path of selling life insurance in order to escape his current existence. While making his rounds, he runs into an old girlfriend Julie (Felicity Jones) who happens to be the daughter of the company.

She seems to fold him into her world and now he is faced with having her in his life and keeping up his friendships with the goofy ill-timed profanity spewing Snork (Jack Doolan) and the more suave Bruce (Tom Hughes).

The movie moves a bit slow, and everyone talks with a thick British accent (I know - in a British movie - how crazy!). And if you like jokes about bloaks and poofters, you'll dig this movie. If you have no idea what a bloak or a poofter is, you'll be lost. You definitely need to pay attention to this movie to appreciate it.

Cemetery Junction is rated R for British crude language and some minor sexual references. The movie is 95 minutes long. The movie also stars Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson.

I need to make a note that I'm not a huge fan of British romantic comedies. Sure, I like Monty Python. And I thought Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was funny, but I'm just not into the most British comedies. I know some of my friends will be disappointed. I guess I'm not as much of a Tory as they are.

I can only give Cemetery Junction 2.5 stars.

O

Greenberg

Ben Stiller is always good for laugh. I mean, there was Dodgeball, Zoolander, the two Nights as the Museums, the whole Fockers series. He's not the funniest character out there, but he's funny enough that I'll watch his new movies.

Greenberg is his latest adventure where he plays a neurotic Roger Greenberg who recently gets out of the mental hospital and is asked by his brother to watch their house while they are away on vacation.

Meanwhile, his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), comes around and helps Roger get by with all of the house chores. Since Roger doesn't drive or know anything about dogs, the weak and impressionable Florence is there to help him out.

In the meantime, Roger, who is lonely and looking for a new start in life, starts to fall for Florence, but his violent outbursts and inability to accept any accountability for his actions, begins to wear thin on Florence. Can Roger turn this awkward forced relationship into something romantic that will last, or will like everything else in his life, be something fleeting that just passes him by?

Greenberg was directed by Noah Baumbach, who directed the nearly intolerable Margot at the Wedding. Greenberg is rated R for strong sexuality, language, lots of drug and alcohol use and some minor violence.

Greenberg is definitely a dark comedy. I did fine humor in many of the scenes, though I found everyone to be a bit predictable. The movie is about an hour and 40 minutes long.

The movie also stars Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), and what I hope to be an up-and-coming Brie Larson.

Greenberg wasn't too bad. It's not my favorite Ben Stiller movie, though I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of dark comedies. However, this one was good enough to earn it 3.1 stars.

The Ghost Writer

When Ewen MacGregor is hired to be the ghost writer of a former British Prime Minister, he finds himself in a situation more than he bargained for.

After the first assistant drowns, MacGregor is brought to a secluded island in what appears to be coastal Massachusetts, to write the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). The conditions that MacGregor is subject to seem a bit odd and he starts to snoop around to find out what is really going on. However, he finds out that there are some important powerful people that will do anything to ensure that certain facts are never known.


There is quite a dramatic ending in many aspects. But some of it seems a bit too convenient as a way to tie the story together.

Directed by pedophile Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer is a little over 2 hours long and is rated PG-13 for language, brief nudity, some sexuality, some violence and a drug reference.

Also staring in the movie are Kim Katrell as Lang's assistant, James Belushi, Olivia Williams, Timothy Hutton, and Tom Wilkinson.

This movie is so SLOW. There are long scenes of mundane conversation that add very little to the plot of the movie. I know they wanted the suspense, but they added suspense to the suspense. Get on with it! And they ending - give me a break.

I give The Ghost Writer 2.1 stars.

When in Rome

I had seen a string of guy movies, so I slipped in a romantic comedy for my wife. And after having seen Kristen Bell in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Couples Retreat, I knew I liked what I saw.

When in Rome stars Kristen Bell as single gal Beth Martin in Rome for her sister's wedding where (Alexis Dziena) she meets Nicholas Beamon (Josh Duhamel) where they sort of feed off of each other's clumsiness.

The night turns odd when Beth, all drunk and feeling pitiful when she sees Nicholas with another woman, starts pulling coins and chips out of the water fountain, and magically changing the lives and romantic interests of several guys - Lance (Jon Heder - Napolean Dynamite), Gale (Dax Shepard), Antonio (Will Arnett - Gob from Arrested Development), and Al Russo (Danny DeVito).

These guys nearly qualify as the biggest dorks around. And once Beth learns that her suitors are under a spell, she must find out how to undo the spell so that they stop chasing her. The problem is the one she likes (Nicholas) is also under the spell. Does he really like her because he's under the spell or does he have true feelings for her?

When in Rome also co-stars Don Johnson as Beth's dad and Angelica Houston as Beth's boss, with cameos from Lawrence Taylor and Shaquille O'Neal.

When in Rome is rated PG-13 for some suggestive comments. The movie is 91 minutes too long.

The comedy is zany and goofy and nonsensical. I found myself wanting this movie to be over. And quick. It was so ridiculous. And my wife started hating the movie before I did. Netflix thought I'd give it 4 stars. They were way off on their algorithms. I can only give it 1.9 stars. This one is a pooper.