Friday, May 8, 2009

My Week in Movies.

I've seen several movies over the last week or so. I figured I'd write something about them. Here.



Run Fatboy Run

This movie stars Simon Pegg as a down on his luck screw-up who leaves his pregnant fiance (Thandie Newton) at the alter. A few years down the road, he finds himself alone and pretty much going nowhere and wishing he could win back the mother of his child. When he meets her new very succesful and in shape boyfriend (Hank Azaria), who's running in a local marathon, he decides that he needs to run in it too, and hopefully in the process prove to everyone that he's not the quitter that they think he is.
I thought this was a very fun move, and I'd definitely put it towards the top of the list of movies of seen in the romantic comedy vein. The main reason that I was drawn to it was because of Simon Pegg and the fact that I think he's comic gold in pretty much anything he touches, and he didn't disappoint, though this was much more conventional fare than his previous movies (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). Another thing that made me want to see it is that it was written by Michael Ian Black. Also of note was that this was David Schwimmer's dirctorial debut. Yep, that David Schwimmer. Overall, this is a great movie if you're looking for a good laugh and some great gags. (A-)

State of Play

This starred Russel Crowe as a sort of old school reporter in Washington DC covering a story about a couple of murders in the city. Ben Affleck plays a Congressman who was a college buddy of Crowe's character and who is heading an investigation into a defense corporation. On the day that the hearing is supposed to take place, the head researcher on his staff is killed. When Crowe finds evidence that her death may be linked with the murders that he's investigating, things begin to twist and turn.
This was a great conspiracy thriller with a lot of nice plot twists and a strong cast including Rachel McAdams as an online reporter who Crowe begrudgingly agrees to work with, Helen Mirren as the gruff, no-nonsense editor in chief, Robin Wright Penn as Affleck's jilted wife and Jason Bateman as a sleazy PR agent. I'm not sure how much of a compliment this sounds like, but this movie seemed to me like the kind of movie that I'd catch on TNT in the middle of the night and not be able to stop watching. (B)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
This was the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a very successful magazine editor who suffered a stroke and became almost completely paralyzed, otherwise known as locked-in syndrome (which you may know a little about if you've watched House this season.) He can only move his left eye. He learns to communicate through a system devised by his physical therapist in which she recites letters in order by how frequently they're used and he blinks when she gets to the letter he wants to spell words. He writes the book that this movie is based on this way.
I know that watching a guy sit there and blink probably sounds about the most boring thing possible. And, I'd say the first half of this movie, which is largely shown from Bauby's perspective is a little hard to watch. However, I think that they break away from the perspective shots at just about the right time for it to be effective, and that as the second part of the movie unfolds, interlacing scenes of him coping with his condition with flashbacks of his sort of playboy lifestyle that he had before, it really works and creates an inspirational story of regret and hope that makes you think about what's really important. (B+)

Star Trek
Not sure how much I really have to say about this one except that J.J. Abrams & Co. obviously know what the hell they're doing. He did great job of making this movie very accessible while still throwing in some nice tidbits for fans of the old series to chew on. I've personally never watched any Star Trek (except maybe a few episodes of TNG when I was a kid), but I did catch some of the little throwbacks that were put in there just because they're things that are so ingrained in the vernacular of pop culture. Excluding the fact that this was a Star Trek movie, it was just a great, fun summer blockbuster with a good mix of action, comedy and special effects. They even threw in some LOST-y time travel stuff that I won't say too much about here. (A)