Review: My Sassy Girl

I wasn't very positive when I reviewed the trailer of My Sassy Girl, a remake of a South Korean romantic comedy. However, the movie pleasantly surprised me and it isn't as generic as the trailer makes it out to be.

Jesse Bradford plays Charlie Bellow, a nice, small town guy focused on college and his career. He rescues manic pixie dream girl Jordan (Elisha Cuthbert) from a collision with a subway, giving her room to insert herself into Charlie's life. Charlie reluctantly goes along with her crazy antics, and despite the bodily harm she causes him, he falls in love with her. But Jordan has a secret that will test the strength of his love for her.

I don't know why this movie went straight to DVD. I have seen far worse movies in theaters this year. One could argue the lack of star power. I will watch anything Jesse Bradford is in, but he isn't a household name. Elisha Cuthbert was a promising talent once upon a time, but hasn't lived up to her promise and hasn't been in a (relatively) successful movie since House of Wax in 2005. Both do a fine job here. Cuthbert is a bit off at times, but has enough charm for the part. Bradford is a relatable leading man and manages not to get overshadowed by Cuthbert's quirky role.

I've been contemplating if the character of Jordan could be defined as a 'manic pixie dream girl'. The term was coined by Nathan Rabin and he describes the character as existing "solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." At first glance she is, but several other characteristics of the manic pixie dream girl state that she is a secondary character and she has a lack of inner life. We find out Jordan has a complex inner life and she's as much a leading character as Charlie is. Maybe the term 'manic depressive pixie dream girl' would be more appropriate.

That being said, My Sassy Girl isn't a generic romantic comedy. Though it has comedic elements, the heart of the movies lies in its dramatic storyline. I know nothing about the original version, so I cannot compare, but I do know that the dramatic part works here. If not for the drama, Cuthbert's character would barely be tolerable.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I didn't think I would be so emotionally invested in Charlie and Jordan's romance that it would actually reduce me to tears, but congratulations My Sassy Girl, you did it. A 4/5.

'Haunted' the Movie?

Variety is reporting that Brian Levy is optioning the rights to Chuck Palahniuk's novel 'Haunted', which Koen Mortier will adapt and direct. Well, good luck with that.

I've read 'Haunted', which is comprised of 23 shorts stories and one main story to tie them all together. How is one movie supposed to do the novel justice? I think it would work better as a mini series.

I hope Mortier will include Cassandra in the film. She was my favorite character and 'The Nightmare Box', one of the stories which featured her, was my favorite of the bunch. I actually don't care much for the stories that don't feature her. It will be interesting to see how they pull off 'Guts' though!

Megan Fox as Cassandra?

Personally, I'd rather see 'Survivor' finally hitting the big screen. I can't believe 'Choke' ended up getting made first!

Review: 28 Weeks Later

What an opening! I think Robert Carlyle running across the lush green grass chased by hordes of Infected is almost equally as impressive as Cillian Murphy's stroll through desolate London in 28 Days Later.

I liked the idea of a sequel to 28 Days Later and I think they made the right decision to not make it about Cillian's Jim and his cohorts. Though a part of me would like to know whatever happened to them, but I digress.

I was pleased with the choice of Robert Carlyle as the lead as he was truly phenomenal here. I was rooting for him! And then THAT happened. You know! THAT! And THIS! We are obviously venturing into spoiler territory here so consider yourself warned:

As Carlyle is presented as our main dude in the movie, I kinda expected him to last longer or even survive. Now I do sorta like this twist of turning him into an Infected early on in the movie as I didn't see it was coming (note: I haven't seen the trailer for this movie so I don't know if it gets spoiled). But, I sorta hate it too, cause I felt I had no one else to root for until Jeremy Renner was inserted with a personality. Carlyle was the heart of the movie.

Then THIS happens! After they killed off the only two characters in the movie I actually cared for, I lost interest. Rose Byrne had no personality, I keep forgetting Harold Perrineau is even in this and the kids.. I loathe the kids! Of course they go venturing out of the safe zone. Of course they are the only people to make it to the helicopter. Sigh.

And the ending. It felt like an after thought and IMDB tells me it is. So the infection has spread to Paris, leaving the possibility for a sequel, 28 Months Later, wide open. I prefer 28 Days Later's hopeful ending. And what's with the crashed heli? No bodies.. hmmm..

I gave the movie a lot of crap in this review, but I did like it. Probably as much as I did the original (I have some problems with that one too). It was shot well and the pacing was good. Bring on, 28 Months Later! A 4/5.

Review: Mirrors

I can't say I'm a fan of all those Asian horrors and their remakes. I don't find them scary and they are all pretty much the same to me. What's the difference really between The Ring and The Grudge? Mirrors wasn't on my list of 'must see movies' this year, but somehow I ended up seeing it twice. And not because I liked it so much the first time.

The great Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a former detective turned alcoholic night watchman at a burnt down department store. He starts seeing things in mirrors. Boredom ensues.

Before I saw the movie, I pondered.. "a movie about evil mirrors.. I wonder how Alexandre Aja (who did a great job with The Hills Have Eyes) will pull this off." The answer is: he didn't, really. We have a surprisingly low amount of people in jeopardy here and not much is done with the actual mirrors, except for some cat scares. Actually, this movie relies a lot on fake outs and sound effects. I grew tired of that quickly. There's also a lack of interaction between characters. Seeing Kiefer go out and about on his own is not that interesting. You have Jason Flemyng in your movie, Mr. Aja, use him! There's a scene where Kiefer is on the phone to Jason, who plays a cop and friend of his. In this scene, we only see Kiefer.. there are no cuts whatsoever to Jason's character as we only hear him on the phone. Why? Why not use him? Flemyng is an appealing actor, but completely underused. Same goes for the lovely Amy Smart. She maybe has 7 minutes of screen time, while the movie is 110 minutes long (and about 20 minutes TOO long). Also, this movie has completely ruined Miss Smart for me.. I can never look at her the same way again. *traumatized for life*

Kiefer is a good actor, but he's just channeling Jack Bauer here. It really felt like I was watching a Jack Bauer movie.. you know, life after CTU and all that stuff. I hear Paula Patton is a talented actress, but she was channeling Maya from "Heroes". If you watch "Heroes", you know that's not a good thing.

Overall, I feel this is a poor movie. Taking away my lack of interest in these Asian horror remakes, I just feel like I've seen this movie already. It's one cliché after the other and predictable as hell. I did like the ending though. Let's just leave it at that. A 2,5/5.

Review: The Accidental Husband

IMDB tells me The Accidental Husband is set for a March, 2009 release. Why this movie keeps getting pushed back is beyond me, because it surely isn't the worst movie I've seen this year so far. In fact, I expected this romcom to be completely generic, but was pleasantly surprised that it had something more to offer.

That something more is Jeffrey Dean Morgan, best known for his recurring roles on "Grey's Anatomy" (playing Denny)and "Supernatural" (playing Sam and Dean's dad). To be honest, I never cared much for Denny in contrast to most "Grey" fans, so I wasn't sure if he would be leading man material. Denny fans can breathe a sigh of relief, because I can report that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is leading man material. He has the talent and charisma to carry the movie. Especially in contrast to both Uma Thurman and Colin Firth, who are incredibly bland in this. Which is the point, I know. Therefore, if someone less capable than Morgan had portrayed this role, this definitely would have been a generic romcom.

Uma Thurman plays Dr. Emma Lloyd, a radio talk show host who advises one of her listeners (Justina Machado of "Six Feet Under") to dump her fiancé Patrick (Morgan), which she does. Patrick wants to take revenge and with the help of his neighbor and some computer hacking, Patrick finds himself married to Emma, who is about to get married to Richard (Firth).

The movie is predictable as hell, but has its moments. Colin Firth's stress-eating moments are funny, as well as relatable. However, I'm kind of tired of seeing Firth play the same no nonsense Brit. Bridget Jones, Love Actually, What a Girl Wants, Mamma Mia!.. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Uma Thurman is a fantastic actress (see Kill Bill), but is somewhat lacking in the comedic department. I think Amanda Peet would have been a good choice for this role as she can play both funny and serious.

Overall, the movie is fun and Jeffrey Dean Morgan shines. Come on, US, release the movie already! A 3,5/5.

Trailer Park: The Accidental Husband

I don't watch a lot of trailers online, so this feature will mostly feature (hee!) trailers that were attached to movies I've recently seen. Keep in mind that I live in The Netherlands, and that the trailers attached wont necessarily be the same as the ones in your country. In this post I'll review the trailers that were attached to The Accidental Husband!

I like to note that I always try to guess which trailers will be attached to the movie, but lately I've been sucking at it. The choices have been just too odd, I can't call them anymore. I mean, The Children of Huang Shi attached to Mamma Mia! or The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to Sex & The City? Plus, movies I haven't really heard of keep getting attached.

Bride Flight
Again this trailer. I now know that this movie is in Dutch. It doesn't look bad, but I just don't like Dutch movies. They sound.. fake.
To be viewed: on TV maybe

The Women
Eva Mendes is hot. Really, really hot. But this movie doesn't really appeal to me.
To be viewed: on TV sometime

Nights in Rodanthe
I love Mae Whitman. She's an underrated talent so I was happy to see her in this trailer. Why isn't this girl more successful? Why does Miley Cyrus keep getting attention?! Plus, Christopher Meloni is in it, and he's someone I can't seen enough in movies. Diane Lane and Richard Gere are great of course. Unfortunately James Franco is in it.. he's talented, but kinda "meh" to me in general. You know why, James! Anyways, the movie is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks so it should find its audience.
To be viewed: on DVD

Review: Get Smart

Get Smart is not a bad movie. It's quite enjoyable actually. It's just not memorable at all, except for the stapler gag. I saw this movie only 2 days ago and I'm having trouble remembering what exactly I liked about it.

Steve Carell is a likeable guy and funny in this, but I feel I've seen this character before. Really, it's not that different from his character in "The Office" (= great show). I'd like to see Carell is more challenging roles. He was really good in Little Miss Sunshine. Anne Hathaway is as uninteresting as ever. I'm not getting her mass appeal. Alan Arkin and The Rock are good in their supporting roles.

Bill Murray's cameo was not funny and rather pointless.

I really have no idea what else to say about Get Smart. It's entertaining, but easily forgotten. Kinda like fastfood.. yummy, but not satisfying. A 3/5.