Micmacs

Dany Boon

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Rating: 4 stars

Bazil (Dany Boon) was a boy when his father was killed from a land mine built by competing French arms dealers. Years later he leaves a shop he works at for the night when a stray bullet hits him. He survives but due to being in the hospital, he is out of a job and has nowhere to live. A group of junkyard bandits collect him in their estranged family they've made up and agree to help Bazil take down the two arms dealing companies.

Micmacs is a quirky, enjoyable movie. Though it may not be a laugh-out-loud movie of the year, it's the little things in this movie that make it memorable. I thought this movie deserved four stars because I think many people would enjoy it if they were open to witty foreign movies. Yes, it is in another language and you have to read subtitles but it's worth it. It's not a long movie either. At a little over an hour and forty minutes, Micmacs leaves you feeling content and not sleepy (it's not boring). Also, it's similar to the French movie Amelie so if you enjoyed that, you will definitely enjoy Micmacs.

Eat Pray Love

Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Rating: 4 stars

Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) realizes her marriage isn't as great as it once was. She has a successful career, a home, a stable, comfortable marriage. However, Liz is so caught up in her life that she realizes she's lost. She needs something new, an adventure. Packing her bags, she goes on a life-changing trip from Italy, to India, to Bali, making friends along the way and looking at life in a whole new perspective.

Eat Pray Love is based on the novel written by Liz Gilbert, a true story of her own self-discovering journey. The movie was enjoyable and inspiring. I can't imagine who wouldn't want to run away and go on a journey that would change your life. Not that that was what Liz was doing, running away. However, it was an interesting movie to say the least, especially since most of it is true. It shows us that anything is possible. One of the issues I found with this movie was the time length. Though necessary, it was a tad too long (two hours, 13 minutes). Since the movie had a slow pace to it, the the time length was noticeable. I would definitely recommend this movie to those who like Julia Roberts movies, for those who wish to/enjoy traveling, and for those who like learning about other cultures (not that you learn a lot but it's interesting to see a different life style). For those of us who feel like they are in a rut in their life, feeling like something is missing, Eat Pray Love is an inspirational movie and I wouldn't be surprised if others followed Liz Gilbert's example.

How Do You Know

Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson

Directed by James L. Brooks

Rating: 2 stars

When Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) gets cut from the USA softball team, she finds herself stuck not knowing what to do with her life. She goes on a date with Matty (Owen Wilson), a naive pro baseball player. George (Paul Rudd) is being blamed with some bad news from his company and doesn't hit it off so well when he is set up on a date with Lisa. Yet, George really likes Lisa. Lisa must figure out which guy she wants.

How Do You Know is two hours of my life I will never get back. Judging from the preview, you know it's going to be an okay movie. What I didn't know was that it would be a terrible movie. Reese Witherspoon's character is annoying and (for lack of a better word) dumb. This was a terrible role for her to be cast in. Same goes for Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson! Paul Rudd plays this corporate guy who is just as annoying while Owen Wilson plays a professional baseball player who sleeps around and has the common sense of a two-year-old. The only reason I rated this movie two stars instead of one is because this movie probably appeals to some people out there. Honestly, this movie should never have been made. Usually I'd recommend movies to people who like the cast but honestly, if you are a fan of any of the cast in this movie, you will find yourself wondering the same thing as me; how could a movie be so horrible? Save yourself two hours and watch something else.

Mega Piranha

Paul Logan, Barry Williams, Tiffany

Directed by Eric Forsberg

Rating: 1 star

Mutant piranha's get unleashed in the amazon, swimming towards Florida. A group of scientists and military people try to stop them and figure out how to kill them.

Yep, that pretty much sums up this movie. It was THE worst sci-fi movie I have ever seen. It shouldn't have been made; the special effects were terrible, the cast couldn't act, the piranha were digitally added and completely laughable. Don't get me wrong, when you hear a title like Mega Piranha, you know it's got to be a horrible movie. I couldn't finish watching this movie because it was boring and the bad acting was unbearable. I would only recommend this movie to those who enjoy bad sci-fi films. Be warned: it is only fun to laugh at if you are watching this with a group of people. If you watch this alone, that will be 92 minutes of your life you will never get back.

Practical Magic

Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Aidan Quinn

Directed by Griffin Dunne

Rating: 4 stars

Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) Owens are two very close sisters. Raised by their aunts, the Owen sisters learned how to cast magic. However due to a curse their ancestor made, any man the Owen women falls in love with dies. Sally Owens believes she falls in love and gets married to her perfect man. Life is going great and she even has twin girls. Then one day, her husband dies. Gillian gets herself into trouble after she kills her boyfriend in an accident. She and Sally fight together to break the Owen women curse.

Practical Magic is a really good movie. Who doesn't love Sandra Bullock or Nicole Kidman? It's a fun movie to watch. The two aunts (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest) are funny and nice, while Bullock and Kidman make a good duo. Practical Magic is one of those old movies you want to watch from time to time and the best part is, is it's not too old of a movie to watch. Even though it doesn't have the high quality of special effects that we're used to in the 2000's, the storyline is interesting and hasn't been done before which is a nice refresher from all the re-makes these days. Personally, I'm a huge Nicole Kidman fan (ever since I watched Moulin Rouge) and even though this movie came out before Moulin Rouge, she has that fiery spark you see in that movie. As for Sandra Bullock, she's a great actress and if you're a fan of hers you won't be disappointed in this movie. I would recommend Practical Magic as a family movie though there are some topics discussed that may not be appropriate for an eight-year-old. However, in defense of it, I really believe that it's one of those movies little kids watch but don't understand whats going on.

Little Fockers

Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo

Directed by Paul Weitz

Rating: 4 stars

When Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) starts experiencing heart problems, he realizes he needs to appoint a new "successor" to be the head of the family. He decides to appoint Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), the only one who is eligible. When the Byrnes visit the Fockers for the Focker's twins birthday party, Jack does some reconnaissance on Greg because he comes to believe Greg is cheating on his daughter. Greg has no idea what is going on and must face (again) Pam's (Teri Polo) ex-boyfriend, Kevin (Owen Wilson), who is fighting for her attention.

Little Fockers was an enjoyable movie. Though I have yet to see the sequel to Meet the Parents, this third film doesn't confuse you as to what has happened in between. There are some memorable scenes like the traumatizing experience Greg's son witnesses between Jack and Greg. Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller make great pair and bring humor to the father-and-son-in-law complexities that occur, especially with Jack Byrne's background of being "top dog". The only main problem I had with this movie was Jessica Alba's character. I thought that they could have chosen a different actress to play this role of the woman after Greg, causing Jack to have suspicions of Greg having an affair. I would definitely recommend this movie to those who enjoyed Meet the Parents and to those who enjoy a good comedy.

Dorian Gray

Ben Barnes, Colin Firth

Directed by Oliver Parker

Rating: 1 star

Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) is an innocent and pure young man. He is easily misguided by Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) and corrupted by Henry's antics. Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) wanted to capture Dorian's innocence by painting a portrait. Dorian wishes to trade his soul for his youth and unbeknownst to Dorian, his portrait takes on the sins he later commits. While Dorian remains young for years to come, his portrait grows old and ugly. Upon noticing this, Dorian hides his portrait and continues to live a corrupted life.

An erotic and horribly twisted version of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, this movie should never have been made. DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. I was deeply disgusted with this version and personally cannot believe someone could make a movie so bad. It was a very sensual and disturbing take on Wilde's novel. Honestly, it was a waste of time. Colin Firth made an embarrassingly bad career move when he took on the role of Lord Henry Wotton. Sure, he played it all right but it was such a horrible movie! And Ben Barnes, while he may be an ideal actor for Dorian Gray, unfortunately not even he could save this movie. The cast was fine, the content however is a different story.

(Warning: next paragraph may be disturbing as I describe some gruesome scenes from the movie.)

The movie had similarities to the book. It's been a while since I read the novel so I can't remember if they strayed too far but they got the main points. However, what wasn't heavily influenced in the book that was put in the movie was Dorian's sex life. What a scandalous young man! In the movie, he has sex with a young girl (teenager, he wasn't a pedophile) and when the mother comes looking for her in the bedroom, the young girl hides under the bed while he has sex with the mother! The ONLY thing I actually laughed at in the movie was the death of Sibyl Vane's brother because it was unexpected. I preferred his death in the book but in the movie it was humorous to see him die by falling in an underground railroad and run over by a train.

I would only recommend viewing this movie if you want to be disturbed.