The Bedtime Reviews

As of late, I have found myself ending each long day with a film in bed. So, for the past few nights, I have seen quite a few films. I also went to see a film on Friday entitled Fear(s) of the Dark, a French black and white animation film that I thought would be much more interesting than it was (although some of the stories, as there were about six different ones, were worthwhile. The art in most cases was impressive). My reviews of the various films viewed in bed are as follows:

RocknRolla: What a fun film. Most of the time, I had to struggle to understand the thick accents of the characters but completely worthwhile, Guy Ritchie almost at his Snatch best. Likeable and interesting characters, a mysteriously wonderful painting and a nearly unstoppable pair of huge men hired to guard money prove to be very entertaining (especially the unstoppable guards). What I thought was going to be primarily a shoot-em-up film ended up being quite the opposite. Two thumbs up.

Pride and Glory: Oh, Edward Norton, what has happened? After making such good film choices such as Fight Club and the often overlooked 25th Hour--although one cannot forget his recent and excellent turn in The Painted Veil and, well, The Incredible Hulk was fun for the smashing and special effects--Norton has decided to essentially waste his talent on films such as The Illusionist and this predictable and, to be honest, somewhat degrading to women, film with a story we've all seen before. Why degrading? How about the fact that the father of two cop brothers (Jon Voigt) does not want his sons to turn in their brother-in-law (who is not only a drug-dealer but framed one of the brothers in a murder) because, of course, he's married to their sister and the father of her children. All Voigt keeps talking about is family and that Jimmy (Colin Farell) is family but what about the sister? How would she feel about being married to a traitor and a drug dealer? The sister's side of the story is relatively null and void, the primary focus on a very old-fashioned story of men being men, loyalty and the apparent conflict of doing the right thing. I see what the film is trying to do: it's attempting to show the difficulty of turning in a fellow cop, especially one who is family, but what it really comes down to is good cops who can't make up their mind to be good cops. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned but I like my cops cut and dry--there are good cops and bad cops but the good ones should want to get the bad ones out of the precinct no matter the cost. And Colin Farell, well, he's just doing what he does best lately: being angry and yelling a lot. Overall, a disappointment.

Zach and Miri Make a Porno: Honestly, I was surprised that I laughed so hard at this movie. I mean, of course, I usually enjoy Kevin Smith films--although that usually depends on the topic so that is why I was pretty sure I would not enjoy Zach and Miri due to the potential for gross and inappropriate jokes. While there are plenty of those, the film is funny and primarily enjoyable, especially when it is Zach and Miri's turn to get busy: a rumba begins and hilarity enuses as Zach (Seth Rogen) dances with his pants down around his ankles with Miri (Elizabeth Banks) as they awkwardly try to have sex on camera. There's poop jokes for the boys and a romance for the girls so, all in all, definitely pick it up to have a laugh--but don't expect much more than that.

Max Payne: You know, I put in an old standby the other night--The Italian Job--and then a couple of days later I watched this stinker and...well, it seems Mark Wahlberg has gone down the same road as our pal Edward Norton (ironically enough, both are in The Italian Job). Boring, boring, boring. Wahlberg stars as Max Payne whose wife and child were killed and he has been searching for the killer for years now (sound familiar? Yea, me, too). Finally, he gets a lead that eventually allows him to rid the world of her killer--although the real killer is still on the loose! Oooooh, do I smell a sequel? I hope not! I don't know what I really expected from a movie based on a video game but the previews made this look interesting and even a bit ghostly and demonic so I thought hey, they might have something here, and picked it up. Silly me--the ghosts and demons are imaginery. They're just on a bad trip. And so was I, the whole time I was watching this film.

So there are the Bedtime Reviews, folks! Hope you enjoyed and I'm sure there will be more to come!