Archive | November 2011
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Dinner for Schmucks
Plot Dinner for Schmucks switches wildly between funny parts that are really funny, and stupid parts that are really stupid. There’s way too much crude and sexual humor in it for me, but if you ignore that, it’s a funny movie with a lot of heart. Characters …and no movie can have heart without good [...]
Puss in Boots
Plot Here it is. My first review of a movie that’s still in theaters at the time of my review. That sentence seems awkward. Anyway, Puss in Boots is basically a retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk story, and that was, quite frankly, basically disappointing. The plot, what little plot there was, took too [...]
Win Win
Plot Win Win doesn’t really have a main plot. It has several small subplots that work together to form somewhat of a story. A few of the subplots don’t go anywhere. For example, the old boiler never gets repaired and never gets mentioned again after the first act of the movie, although the knocking noise [...]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Plot Somehow, I liked this film for the exact same reasons I hated Sucker Punch. They took a commonly-occurring thing that happens in real life, exaggerated it for comedic effect, and ended up with a story set in a world that is both completely believable and completely fantastic at the same time. The only thing [...]
Sucker Punch
Plot The people who made Sucker Punch decided to put in some symbolism. Then they decided to add some more. Then some more. Then some more. Then, they realized, “Wait a minute. This movie is too long. Let’s get rid of the plot to make it short enough.” …at least that’s the way I like [...]
Rio
Plot Oh, Blue Sky Studios…they’re the Hanna-Barbera of CGI, and not just because they both have a series set in prehistoric times that just doesn’t know when it’s overstayed its welcome. With Rio they definitely tried to take things up a notch, and, for what it’s worth, they succeeded. Everything they do in Rio has [...]
The Adjustment Bureau
Plot Recipe for The Adjustment Bureau: One part Matrix. One part Butterfly Effect. Add Source Code to taste. Serves several. This is one of those movies that probably seemed like a lot better idea on paper than it did on screen. That’s not to say it wasn’t good. It’s very good. It’s just that any [...]
Source Code
Plot Source Code is possibly one of the best movies 2011 had to offer. A non-linear plot structure like this is hard to pull off, but this film does it, and does it well. I do have to admit though, it can be a little hard to follow at times, especially if you miss even [...]
Sherlock Holmes
Plot I see what they were trying to do here. I appreciate their desire to update these classic characters. But I just can’t get behind steampunk, and the entire thing felt like Batman Begins retold with Sherlock Holmes. Come on, there was a new villain*, a device that was used to release fear-inducing chemicals**, black [...]
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest
Plot Of the three movies in this series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest had the easiest to follow plot. I’m not saying it was a good plot, but it was better than the previous installment. Up until the end, at least, where the two main characters shared their second of two total scenes [...]