New Releases! Ides, Paris, and Rum.

3 new releases are up today for review thanks to the power of redbox and comcast for some lovely "free ondemand" coupons! I missed all three of these while they were in theaters, and it made me quite sad! Turns out I missed two good ones, and one terrible one. I'm glad it cost me $1.30 instead of $7.75 to learn this though.

"The Ides of March" (2011) features my favorites Ryan Gosling and Paul Giamatti....and that sucker Clooney, but he is so irrelevant these days. Essentially a political thrill-drama, Gosling is an up and coming media mind working for Clooney's campaign. After a few twists and turns Gosling sort of loses it and plays dirty to eventually get what he wants. Giamatti is the campaign manager for the opposing candidate and sadly doesn't play that large of a role, in regards to screen time. I thought the acting was phenomenal, on my two G's (no pun) part. Clooney doesn't act as far as I'm concerned, he just smiles and recites lines. But whatever, he did a fine job as well. This movie left me sad and in awe, and kinda of critical of the political game especially during primary season. I liked it. I would definitely recommend it.

"Midnight in Paris" (2011) Let me say this first: after Owen Wilson's suicide scare I was really concerned he would never work again, and that saddened me because I really like him. Never fear! He is back! And with an incredibly successful effort I must add! So there isn't much explaining to do on the plot, without giving away the whole story but be clear: it is a wonderful story! Who wouldn't be just enthralled with the idea of Paris in the 1920s? It sounds incredible! The music, the fashion, the art, the parties all tres magnific! I loved the presence of incredibly famous icons woven into the story line and the way in which Gil (Wilson) reacts to them. The idea that the grass is always greener is so so prevalent, and it really does make you think. The images of Paris are absolutely stunning and make you love the city so very much (even for someone like me, who doesn't really like the city at all) and the music is lovely! Absolutely lovely! It was so quintessentially French that you had to love it; it brought to light all the things people love about Paris and nothing that people hate. It was a lovely film.

"The Rum Diary" (2011)

Dear Johhny Depp,

The record now shows that I have sat through two incredibly slow films in which you starred only to be incredibly disappointed. For future reference, the audience doesn't believe that you are poor, bumbling, unable to snatch away a woman, awkward, or otherwise incapable of being a sex god. Please stop picking those roles. Its just plain annoying.

Sincerely,

Anna

This movie had so much promise. The trailer looked so good. Instead it was a 1960 political statement on injustice between rich and poor in Puerto Rico and Depp's sadsack effort to try and do something. I was utterly unimpressed and bored. The characters were incredibly strange and undeveloped and I really didn't enjoy any of the acting. The only redeeming quality was the beautiful images of Puerto Rico and the music. Other than that, I wasted 2 hours of my life. Don't rent this one. Seriously. Just rewatch The Hangover or Iron Man on tv. It will be better. I promise.

30 Minutes or Less

Every now and then, a really funny movie comes out and it takes a while for people to realize its out and hilarious. This is one of those movies. So, I'm doing my civic and moral duty and telling everyone I know that it is hilarious in order to expedite the process. This isn't ground breaking comedy, its just hilarious stupid comedy.

The cast: Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, and Jesse Eisenberg. All absolutely hilarious. After every movie Jesse Eisenberg is in, my opinion of him changes. In general I never know what to expect from him, and I don't think he is a very good actor, I just think he has an incredible agent/management team who picks roles that are his personality. That being said, he was still insanely funny in this, the writers were incredible. The plot basically goes as follows: Jesse Eisenberg's life sucks, and Danny McBride and Nick Swardson are absolute idiots. They kidnap Eisenberg and strap a bomb to him in order to force him to rob a bank. The movie is riddled with absurd and crude jokes and littered with racial slurs; and I LOVED it. People were howling throughout the entire theater, so I wasn't alone. Danny McBride is so ridiculous that if you don't laugh at him, you are an idiot. Don't take your kids to see it, because they won't understand what is so funny and you will have wasted $8.50 and polluted their minds. But, for the love of all things holy, take yourself to see it.

All I Do Is "Win-Win"

(sorry, I'm really feeling clever today)

"Win-Win" is an incredible movie about a lawyer on the brink of bankruptcy who makes some interesting choices to save his family. These choices turn out to be way more complicated than he ever expected, but he reaps the benefits of the situation regardless. Taking a troubled kid under his wing turns out to be an incredible situation for his after-school wrestling team.

Let me say this: I love Paul Giamatti. I think he has really evolved as an actor, and is getting better with age and has consistently been finding incredible roles.

I really wanted this movie to be awesome. Since I've been blogging, I've realized that I want a movie to be awesome, so I see it and think it is awesome, come home and blog about how awesome it is, and then realize it may not have been that awesome. So, I hesitated a lot before writing this post. That being said, this movie really was awesome. I loved the story line and thought the acting was phenomenal. A big shout out goes to the writers who, I felt, really made the script like a family speaks. There is one really intense, pivotal moment, and the mom (Amy Ryan, Holly from The Office) says, "I just want you to know, We love you". And it just broke my heart and made me so happy at the same time. It seemed so real, and I really was cheering in my seat for everything to go the way I wanted.

This was seriously a great movie, I've offered to go see it again with anyone who doesn't want to be lonely thumbs.
But two of my thumbs are way, way up for this one!