Three Quick Reviews: Less Than Zero, Youth in Revolt, Limitless

As most of you have seen, I’ve been taking it easy with the whole posting world.  One reason is that its hit me that I’ve been really tired so I’m trying to find a balance between everything I post to kind of not slack off on the quality of the context but slow down the frequency of posting, especially now that I’ve start up a second blog.  However, I do want this one to keep one of its main focus on movies so no worries, I will get back to it. Plus, I have a few theatre visits planned so because of slowing down, I had a few movies hanging out in my drafts and I realize the best way to approach this is to do quick reviews 🙂 I promise to not do this frequently but sometimes, its quite refreshing 😉

Lets get it going…

LESS THAN ZERO (1987)

Director: Marek Kanievska

Cast: Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr., James Spader

Clay(Andrew McCarthy) heads off to college leaving his two best friends behind as they both carry on with their lives.  His ex-girlfriend Blair (Jami Gertz) decides to stay behind and pursue her career as a model while Julian asks his dad to open his own business.  When Clay comes back home for the holiday as his ex-girlfriend’s request, he realizes that things aren’t as smooth as he had expected for his friends.  Julian is now a drug addict who has lost all his father’s money and owes even another rich kid drug dealer money. Putting his own troubles aside, he tries to help with Julian’s situation before its too late.

After watching Pretty in Pink, I have gained a fondness for Andrew McCarthy.  He has a weird vibe in his movies but the boyfriend told me that he heard that this one was good so I gave this one a shot.  I didn’t know that Robert Downey Jr. was in this.  Let me just clarify that I’m only a fan of his newer movies so that gave me a little bit of doubt.  Surprisingly, I thought this was a well-made movie that had a strong message about the danger of drug addiction with youth. The most notable performance goes out to Robert Downey Jr.  I never thought I’d say this about his earlier works but he did a very convincing role.

As I was reading, this is supposed to be loosely based on a book with the same title but I’ve never read it so I can’t compare.

Have you read the novel? Have you seen Less Than Zero? What do you think about it? Are you a Robert Downey Jr. fan?  

YOUTH IN REVOLT (2006)

Director: Miguel Arteta

Cast: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Zach Galifianakis, Steve Buscemi, Ari Graynor, Justin Long, Ray Liotta

When Nick Twisp’s mother, Estelle (Jean Smart) moves out to the country to live in a trailer while her boyfriend (Zach Galifianakis) hides away from sailors that he cons money from. There he meets a girl, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) that he falls in love with completely.  Any hideaway comes to an end and when he has to leave, he promises Sheeni that he will find a way to get back to her.  With Sheeni’s smartness and his absolute desire to get back to her, Nick tries to find a balance between himself and a slowly develop completely bad alter personality called Francois to give himself courage to be a rebel.

As I sat through Youth in Revolt, the only thing that ran through my mind was that it was weird.  Its a good weird though because it made me curious about what else would happen.  Honestly, the more fun parts of this was when Nick channeled Francois into his life.  It turned into his own journey to be more courageous and figure out how to be who he had to be.

Although, I wasn’t sure about Sheeni’s intentions, Nick’s desires to be with her had some pretty cute elements to it along with some pretty funny dorky ones as well. Plus, there are many stars before they did some bigger movies in their career here.

What do you think about Youth in Revolt? Have you seen it?

LIMITLESS (2011)

Director: Neil Burger

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), a uninspired writer whose girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) just left him, tries this experimental drug called NZT which unlocks 100% of the brain’s capacity.  This allows him to not only finish his book but also learn things at quick pace which he uses in financial investments.  Thats when Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), a powerful  and cunning energy business man uses him to settle a deal that he is trying to land.  As the drugs unknown effects start taking a toll on him, there are also others who have learnt about this drug and want to have their hands on its limited supply putting Eddie in danger on multiple fronts.

The premise for this was a good one.  I think it had a really decent idea but the execution fell short.  The script could have been stronger but what it does have is one of the better roles that I’ve seen of Bradley Cooper.  I personally have mixed feelings about him but so far, aside from my hatred for The Hangover, he’s been involved in decent movies. I haven’t seen Silver Linings Playbook so that doesn’t count.  As ridiculous and predictable as some of the events are, it has a pretty intriguing beginning to set up how the movie was heading and right away, it wasn’t a movie that you needed to really over think the details too much if you intend to enjoy it.  And I didn’t, so I actually found it alright.  It could have been better but lets not be too picky sometimes 😉

What do you think about Bradley Cooper? What are your thoughts on Limitless?

Genre Grandeur – Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist (2008)

Check out my entry for MovieRob’s Monthly Genre Grandeur. April was all about Romantic Comedies. I had a hard time choosing one to write about but in the end, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist was my final choice.

A HUGE thanks to Rob for putting this together and being so awesome about my very last minute entry. Remember to check out the other great entries as well.

May will feature crime movies so if you haven’t followed him, you definitely should and catch up with the reviews. Or maybe, you have one you’d like to share 🙂

MovieRob

For our last guest entry in this month’s Genre Grandeur (before my finale), I present you with a review from Kim of Tranquil Dreams.  If you don’t already follow her site, I urge you to do so.  Her site is filled with great movie reviews, photo challenges, workout updates  and lots of interesting recipes.

without further ado, here’s her review…..

Romantic comedies are one of my favorite genres.  When Rob chose this for April, I stared at the screen and started wondering what to choose.  I think 30% of my collection (at least) is romantic comedies.  Plus, I’ve already reviewed most of my faves on my own blog so after some debate, I decided to not go mainstream and chose Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)

Director: Peter Sollett

Cast: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Ari Graynor, Jay Baruchel, Aaron Yoo, Rafi Gavron

Nick is…

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Conviction (2010)

I never quite figured out why I always wanted to seeing this but never actually bought it or whatnot.  It was available on Netflix and it was going to expire so I made it a point to give it a viewing.  Maybe it was because Hilary Swank never did a bad movie (except New Year’s Eve, but we’ll pretend that never happened due to few cast members). Or maybe its because its based on a true story, which I have no knowledge of before hand.  Whatever the reason, I gave it a watch a few days ago.

Let’s check it out!

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher, Melissa Leo, Bailee Madison, Ari Graynor

Kenneth Waters (Sam Rockwell) and Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swanks) are brother and sister that love each other and are inseparable as siblings.  When Kenneth Waters is arrested by police office Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo) for the murder and sentenced to lifetime in jail, she spends almost the next two decades, sacrificing her marriage and sometimes being a good mother to get her high school degree and proceed to go into law school in order to be the lawyer to overturn her brother’s case.  In her heart, she knows he is innocent and her determination along with the help of her best friend, Abra Rice (Minnie Driver) leads her to defeat one challenge at a time.

Honestly, I don’t know what I did of late but the movie gods have been extremely awesome to me. Its been pretty much a streak of pretty decent movies.  Conviction is no exception.  Just for fun of it, I always go over Rotten Tomatoes quickly before writing these out to see the rating to get an idea and they called it manipulative.  I’m still trying to grasp when a movie does that.  To me, this wasn’t manipulative but it was pretty real. Obviously, I don’t know the true story so I don’t know how “true” it is in terms of fact but as a movie experience, it was just wow.  I was pulled in right from the start and it never really let up.

The story itself is no doubt an amazing and heartfelt one.  The hoops that Betty Anne Waters has to go through just based on trust for her brother and the bond they share make this so genuine.  I really have to give it to Hilary Swank for another awesome performance but as well as she was as I had expected, the performance that blew me away was Sam Rockwell.  I’m a newbie when it comes to Sam Rockwell.  Lets just say, I might even do a marathon on the man’s performances.  This guy took this role and just ran with it.  Although, his character Kenny was in prison more than outside and his only interaction we had was the little bit when he talked to Betty Anne, the emotions he had was just way too compelling.  A man that can act out a role with so little room to wiggle in and covered, tough, desperate, happy, sad, hopeless all in the course of about 100 minutes is just a great actor.  Something that based on a true story usually is known and we know the ending but with the right performances, it brings out the story so much for effectively.  Conviction managed to do that. Aside from them, the supporting roles from Minnie Driver as Betty Anne’s best friend help loosen up the serious mood at times which is usually very much needed in a movie that has such heavy content.

Honestly, I have nothing else to say about it.  Conviction is moving and compelling true story that takes you on a courageous and ambitious journey of a sister who will do anything for her brother, and constantly reminds herself and her brother to not give up because they are always getting close and who believes and trusts so much in family and its amazing and tugs on a heartstrings.  With the convincing performances of Swank and Rockwell along with great supporting roles, Conviction is a must-see! 🙂

What did you think of Conviction? What are your thoughts on Hilary Swank? What are some of your favorite performances of Rockwell that you’d recommend? 

What’s Your Number? (2011)

I needed a light-hearted rom-com to kick start the weekend.  What’s Your Number? was what I happened to pull off my shelf.  All my movies that I haven’t seen happen to be dramas or action and I just wasn’t in the mood for it.

Director: Mark Mylod

Cast: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, Chris Pratt

One day, Ally Darling (Anna Faris) reads an article that the national average for the number of men that women sleep with is 10.5.  Seeing that she has neared almost twice the national average with her number being 19 (and this means she has a possibility of never getting married), she proclaims that she will not sleep with any other men until she finds the right one to fill in the slot of 20.  With her sister, Daisy’s (Ari Graynor) wedding in the planning stages and discussions with some friends, she comes up with the idea that she should go back and take another look at her exes to see if she can spark something with them, as to not raise her number.  At the same time, she asks for the help of her neighbor, Colin (Chris Evans), who not only has tracking skills, but is not serious about romantic relationships.  The search for her exes, with Colin’s help, turns out to be a lot more than she expected.

This is a movie that falls in the enjoyable level for me.  Its somewhat of a guilty pleasure not only because its a romantic comedy (and an R-rated one at that) but because Chris Evans is amazing eye candy.  He is 90% naked or in his boxer briefs almost in all the shots.  And when he isn’t naked, he is extremely dreamy and charming to look at.  I’m going to admit right away that he makes this chick flick better than it actually is. He gives some nice little moments and some funny ones and sometimes, when they capture his charming looks on screen it just sweeps me  away.

Searching for the exes

On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of Anna Faris.  From what I’ve heard, she got popular from the Scary Movie franchise.   I have watched none of them and do not intend to ever do it.  Feel free to tell me if thats true.  However, I have seen her in House Bunny.  She seems to like to engage herself in roles where she gets mildly revealing and/or naked.  I think in an interview, they called her daring.  She has some cute moments here and there in this flick however, she doesn’t engage me into the movie mostly because of the way she talks.  I think its just her voice bothers me and sometimes, she has forced smiles and expressions.  I guess its just her acting isn’t very natural to me.  Not exactly sure how to describe it, but then at the same time, she has an awkwardness that can sometimes be cute and humorous.

Cute chemistry 🙂

As far as chemistry goes between Anna Faris’s Ally and Chris Evans’s Colin, there was some here and there.  One of my favorite scenes was this basketball faceoff scene.  That part was awesome.  Well, and I can’t decide if its Chris Evans or the chemistry that they had but they had some hot moments when they were on-screen together. Like the one above this paragraph…

Another reason for guys to watch this, if you want to see her naked…

I’ve never sat around and compared my “number” with anyone nor have I ever wanted to share that even to start with.  It seems a private matter, so I’m not exactly sure if that’s such an impact on a relationship, but if you do think it important, then I’m sure this flick could have some appeal.  It does have some silly and comedic moments.  I had a few laughs and its mostly mocking the flashbacks of her past boyfriends.  Its cheap humor though, nothing witty about what they do with it and sometimes, it was plain strange.

What’s Your Number? is an enjoyable romantic comedy.  Some cute moments, some humor and lots of sexy Chris Evans with his beautiful eyes to look at.  That’s enough for me and fitted into my Friday movie night mood.  Sometimes, its all about fulfilling my guilty pleasures 🙂