Thursday, September 24, 2009

Uptown Critic

Oh hi there, today I will review movies I've recently seen either in the theatre or on Netflix. And then, knowing my opinion matters most, you will know what to see and what to avoid. You're welcome.


All About Steve
pros: Bradley Cooper, crossword puzzle talk, great quote pertaining to crosswords and any challenge "Is it solvable? Is it entertaining? Does it sparkle?"
cons: terrible story, annoying, painful, increasingly ridiculous and not in a good way.
Uptown Grade: D as in Don't Bother. And you know its gotta be bad if Bradley Cooper is in it and I'm still saying Don't Bother.


Taken
pros: Liam Nieson, lots of kicking a$$ and taking names, interesting story, exciting, enthralling, made me want to fire my body guard and hire Liam Nieson as my personal protector.
cons: the ending didn't wow me and I think the writers should've contacted me to write a better ending for them; disturbing concepts re: things going on in the world that I usually try not to think about.
Uptown Grade: A as in Awesome Blossom. Rent it asap.



Sunshine Cleaning
pros: great acting (Amy Adams & Emily Blunt, et al), writing, interesting and compelling story that draws you in and keeps you interested, made me cry multiple times but not so much that my eyes were puffy the next day.
cons: a couple of odd and disturbing scenarios/adult scenes.
Uptown Grade: A- as in Awesome minus the Blossom. Rent it.



Last Chance Harvey
pros: good writing, story about a dead-beat-ish dad who is trying to redeem himself and this one also had me crying but not enough to get puffy-eyed. Sacot. Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson= great acting.
cons: not majorly compelling
Uptown Grade: B+ as in Basic plus part two parts Brill. Rent it eventually.

6 comments:

Alice said...

I was gonna do a post on movies on Monday...it's still there sitting in my drafts...cause I realized I feel asleep before it ended. haha! F = fall alseep. heehee.

I love that I only heard of 1 out of 3 of these movies. And it's the good ones I need to see. Yay!

Unknown said...

ooh love this blog feature!

I've only seen sunshine cleaning and I give that an A+

Thanks for the advice!

Urban Mom said...

I *loved* Taken! I didn't move for the last 45 minutes of it. And Liam... all old and still so Hubba Hubba. And now he's All-American Hubba Hubba!

I wanted to like Sunshine Cleaning more. I really, really did. But it went into darker places than it needed to (kinda like Little Miss Sunshine did too). But it was pretty charming, overall.

My sister gave me a month of 3-at-a-time from Netflix. I've recently gotten hooked on Penn & Teller's "Bullsh*t!" 'cause I doubt the library carries it. After that, it's the po-dunk 2-a-month and don't ask for more plan. I saw Gran Torino and was blown away by it. Seriously good stuff, that one. Clint got ripped off by the Academy that year.

Fun post!

rita said...

The last movie I actually saw in a theater (we don't have theatres in WV) was, oh, let's see, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Loved it. Watch it, but if you haven't read the books, it won't make a lot of sense.

Next movie I'll see at the theater is New Moon, then Eclipse. God, my life is so boring that I can predict my movie-going for the next year.

Uptown Girl said...

Alice- you get and 'E' for Effort!

Bekah- anytime, I am full of advice you know ;)

Urban Mom- I'm travelling to India soon and since seeing 'Taken', all I can think is "if something happens to me, who would come after me!? No one. Must meet Liam before my trip and exchange digits."

Rita- Most movies arent' worth the $12.50 to see them in the theatre anyways. $12.50 covers my Netflix for a whole month and I get to rewind and pause whenever i want.

Urban Mom said...

Not only do you get to rewind & pause, you also don'thave to deal with people around you and their bad cell phone manners. You can put the volume where you want it. Climate control is within your actual control. Of course, I do love going to see some effect-laden loud summer blowout movie in the theater. But the other stuff can wait. Speaking of, I never did get out to see Wolverine (Hugh Jackman...mmmmmm...another post right there). Now I'm getting the Very Long Wait note from Netflix. Sigh. Wait for me Hugh! Wait for me!

ok, I seriously need to get out more.....