Dodgeball

They try to sell Dodgeball as a Zoolander sequal. Not quite, and not that I was looking for this. I was glad that Ben Stiller was the only migration and only took up at most a quarter of the movie.

Bunch of over-the-top physical comedy that I might have enjoyed more if I was expecting it.

My introduction to Vince Vaughn was some Mob comedy of errors that I couldn't make it through. This move redeemed him for me.

Cameo's were cool. Especially Lance Armstrong.

Alan Tudyc rocked. They should've let him have more comedy. Garrrr

Ending was an ending and then >>BWACK<<--slammed upside the head in the last encounter before the follow-up.
3.25 twinkly starlighty thingies. (5's the most, right?) No sequel's necessary.

Garfield

Saw this one at the outdoor despite hearing of horrid reviews, one of which was "You'll yearn for The Cat in the Hat". The movie certainly wasn't excellent, rather hurried and missing something, but I was NOT yearning for The Cat.

The cast assignment seemed appropriate. Bill Murray can't quite shine as he does in person.

They worked very hard to get tons of the comic strip story factors into the movie, while actually giving a different perspective on a few of the more consistently depressing ones. Imagine a Peanuts movie where Chuck actually get's to kick the football, or throw a no-hitter, and he actually get's to second base. Don't expect Garfield to shine as any character example for your kids...somehow I kept imagining him as an example of those capitalism rationalizations (You know "selfishness can be good..") which just didn't click with how I want my kids to treat there siblings.

Wait for the $1 rental, then enjoy it with kids or your sister who collected all those rectangular Garfield comic strips.

Want to see: What Price Pants

IMDB link

Any opposition?

Along Came Polly

Here's Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston in a (supposedly romantic) comedy. Sounds great since Ben Stiller has pretty damn good track record with the last few movies he's made and Jennifer Aniston was in Office Space so she gets a thumbs up, too. Apparently when you put the two together you make steaming pile of crap.

Yes, this movie sucked. I really wanted to like it, even just a little bit (well, I guess the ferret was pretty funny, but animals are cute no matter what they do), but I couldn't find anything all that entertaining about this movie. I actually couldn't wait for it to finish. The plot was thin and really didn't feel cohesive at all. It was just a bunch of...stuff thown together that resembles a movie because it deals with the same two characters for over an hour. I blame the writer (whom I believe was also the director) for this totally sloppy mess. He does get one redemtion point, although this is only because he's a first time director.

I don't know what else to comment on this one. Don't buy it or spend money on the rental, just borrow it from a friend who foolishly rented it or bought it if you have like a month with absolutely nothing to do ahead of you. If you really like Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, go rent Meet the Parents and Office Space instead.

50 First Dates

Ok, is it an Adam Sandler movie or is it a Drew Barrymore movie? Well, it's both. You get the fun and humor of a good Sandler movie mixed with the romantic 'chick flick' side that Drew brings to the screen. Basically, if you like The Wedding Singer, you'll like this movie, too.

Quick plot summary: Groundhog Day in Hawaii.

Not as quick plot summary: Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) is afraid of attachment. He only dates women on vacation to Hawaii so he can easily avoid having a long term relationship. This all changes the moment he meets Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) and falls in love. One small problem though; Lucy was in a car accident a year ago and only retains her memory for 24 hour periods, forgetting everything that happens the previous day. After discoving her condition, Henry does what any guy would do when in love with a girl with no short term memory. He spends each day making her fall back in love with him all over again.

Sandler is back in good form again after putting out a few duds. He movie buddy, Rob Schneider, plays a pretty big role in the movie and is really quite toned down for those of you who can't stand him being over-the-top wacky. There's also quite a few references to Sandler's other films if you watch close enough. Drew is cuter and cuter in each new movie I see her in, including this one. And really Drew and Sandler work well and look natural together on screen. And luckily there is chemistry between them on screen or else this movie would have been shite.

The biggest gripe I had about the film was that the ending was crap. Other than that, I really didn't have much to nitpick on. I actually like watching these romantic comedies (or 'chick flicks' if that's an actual genre yet) unlike most guys I know, or else I probably would have bitched about the inevitable emotional/romantic parts of the film.
Alas, if you don't care for romantic comedies, but like a good Adam Sandler film...I'd have to say just watch the damn thing.

If we had some funky 5 star rating system, I'd give it around 3 3/4 stars.

Finding Nemo

Somebody who was more impressed with the movie and could look beyond the stereotypes should post a review here:

-- Insert Review Here --

But I found this quite amusing.

I found "Wasabi" quite entertaining and humourous, especially with redundant sub-titles. I can never remember the name, as I can usually get hung up on Wabi-Sabi.

Kill Bill volume 1

"It's the bloodiest most violent film in ages." That was a stupid excuse for me to put of seeing this movie for so long and miss the big-screen psyche gripping potpourri of 30 years of movie entertainment excellence Terantino can collage. The 70's attributes were just plain fun. Mixing anime and silly horror gags to tune the tone of a movie's "hot media" was well appreciated. I usually don't see a movie to experience a particular scenario, but I'm inquisitive and want to know the dry facts, especially character shaping ones. Great presentation. (Although the scalping should have been on an angle.)

Lucy Liu may be pretty and her features fit the character and all, but her presence is not compelling. Model actress go home. The table-top speech might as well have been followed up with a gag-inducing "You go girl!" Meanwhile average featured Uma radiates the sexyness that comes from a woman admired. One has no evidence whether she could be the fawning, adoring, head on your shoulder companion, but you feel it and attribute it blindly.

I'm looking forward to the next one.